The Samurai's Companion
by Lilgrimmapple
Summary: The Legend of the Samurai was exactly that: a legend. A fairy tale. It had never once crossed Evie's mind that it was actually all real. The story also seemed to have forgotten to specify that the Samurai had a blonde American tagalong and that the Samurai's name wasn't even Japanese. Honestly, what is up with that?
1. Evelyn Atwood

**The Samurai's Companion**

 **Chapter 1** : Evelyn Atwood

* * *

" _I shouldn't tell you this, but I've been having these weird dreams like every single night for three weeks now where I'm being contacted. Not by ghosts, exactly, but people from other histories, where things turned out differently than they did here. And they're all envious. And they all say: You are so lucky. You live in the best of all possible worlds. And you don't even know it."  
_ ― Dexter Palmer, _Version Control  
_

* * *

Evie was lost.

She was standing stuck in the middle of a giant, trashy, black and red city with nothing but a brown rucksack on her back.

There was the sound of loud buzzing traffic above her head and Evie slowly looked upwards. Her dark eyes nearly popped out of their sockets from bewilderment. Flying cars! Legitimate flying cars that one could easily find in a futuristic sci-fi movie were currently zooming overhead. Despite the oddity, the only thing that the blonde young woman could bring herself to wonder about was _how in the world was the traffic being managed up there with no lanes_?

Evie's eyes focused up towards the sky only to see… that there was no sky to see. It was completely obstructed by a thick heavy smog. Even the tips of the tallest building seemed to disappear into the yellowish brown nothingness. It was a hopeless and claustrophobic sight. Nope, she didn't like this place one bit. She turned around to go back where she had come from, but… where was the gate that she had entered? It was right there a moment ago.

Evie rubbed her eyes and looked again. No. It was completely gone! Reaching out about with her arms, she prodded the empty air as if making sure that it didn't suddenly go invisible. After a minute or so, she finally gave up and let her arms drop to her sides.

"What on earth?" she muttered, completely baffled.

Not knowing what else to do, Evie began to just walk. That is when she noticed that the streets were filled with the strangest of creatures. Robots, aliens, mutants, androids… she swore that she got a glimpse of perhaps of a human or two, but then she noticed that they either had a tail or gills. Evie couldn't help but stare. Was there some sort of Star Wars or Star Trek convention going on? She heard nothing of the sort being planned. Nor did this look like Kyoto anymore.

Taking a deep breath to try and stay calm, Evie grimaced and covered her mouth with her hand. Ugh! The air was putrid! How could anyone just casually walk around breathing in these machine fumes?

The city was extremely dull and dirty. The only thing that was bright about it were the numerous screen projections of some black ogre with flames for eyebrows and branch-like spikes for hair. The screens were scattered all over the place with him advertising all sorts of commercials such as fast food and vacation resorts.

"That's one hell of a mascot…" Evie muttered as she eyed one certain projection of the ogre resting on a hammock at a white sandy beach while holding a martini and winking at the audience. In the meantime, the (why were they in English?) words " _Aku Island Resort. You wish you were here, but you can just keep dreaming"_ flashed over it. She knew that Japan was weird but this was on a whole different level. It was almost like the devil himself rose up and took control over the government. She looked at another projection of the ogre and snorted.

" _Aku is always watching_ _ **YOU!**_ " it said. His eyes were just staring down at the crowd below.

It was all so ridiculous that Evie couldn't help but give a soft giggle.

Deciding that walking around aimlessly wasn't going to help her find her way back to the To-ji temple, Evie tried to talk to a random passerby. "Umm, excuse me?" she gingerly poked his shoulder and he turned around. Evie tried very hard not to recoil away from the giant fish with big round unblinking eyes. It wore a helmet filled with water and it walked using its fins. But no matter how creeped out she was, it would be incredibly rude to behave so. Besides, it was probably only a costume.

"C-can you p-please tell me where I am? I-I am rather lost. I'm looking for the To-Ji Buddhist Temple?"

A very… VERY realistic looking costume. She could make out every fish scale!

The creature stared blankly at her and a few bubbles escaped its unmoving mouth.

"… It's in Kyoto? … In … Japan?" Her voice kept growing softer and higher pitched as she kept adding on words. At the same time, she began to shrink back. The lack of any response was nerve-wracking for her. "Uhh, Planet… Earth?" Speaking of which, did he even understand English? Goodness, this was becoming awkward real fast.

The fish gave a sudden wheezing laugh, startling Evie. He stood there holding his belly as he laughed before finally calming down and giving the blonde a soggy pat on the head with a fin, causing her hair to stick up. "Good one, kid." Evie gaped as he stalked off, chuckling to himself while muttering in a gurgling voice, "Japan, ha! What will they think of next?"

Once she had gotten over her initial shock, Evie patted down her hair back into place.

Well, that certainly did not go the way she had planned.

Evie didn't have time to come up with a plan B when she was suddenly shoved aside. She yelped as she fell to the ground, landing painfully on her butt. She felt something crack beneath her weight and she cursed her bad luck. 'Ugh… it was a new iphone too.' And to top it off, Evie was certain that she was going to have a rectangular bruise down there too. She looked up to see a rather peeved looking robot. "Wha-?"

"Move it, skin-bones!" the robot snapped at her with a mechanical voice.

"I'm… sorry… I didn't mean-"

The robot didn't listen to rest of Evie's apology and just motored on.

"Oh goodness, dear me! Are you alright?" a concerned voice with a British accent spoke up.

"I think so, thank-" Evie turned her head until she was face-to-face with a blue dachshund dog wearing a safari hat and a red bow tie, "... you."

Did the dog just talk?

"Here now, can you stand? I would assist but I'm afraid that you would be too heavy for me. My most sincere apologies."

Evie's eyes became wide as saucers! The dog was most certainly forming human words with his mouth. Not only that; he was standing upright on his back legs! No matter how much she racked her brains for an explanation, there was just no way that it was a person wearing a costume. It couldn't be a robot either. His movements were too fluid.

She screamed. "AHHHH! A demon dog!" she scrambled backwards while pointing.

"Good heavens! Where?!" The blue dog turned around, ears perked up in fearful alert.

"She's talkin' abou' you, ye dimwit."

Evie gasped when a black Scottish Yorkshire Terrier smoking a pipe appeared, followed by a yellow bulldog. All of them stood on their back legs and wore safari hats.

"Me?" the British dog exclaimed in surprise before giving a hearty chuckle and turning back to Evie. "My dear lady, I assure you that I am no demon." He did not seem at the very least insulted.

"But… you can talk!" Evie accused.

"Quite so," he agreed with a pleasant nod.

"And you're walking on two legs!"

"Quite so."

"And you're wearing clothes!"

"A perceptive young lass, aren' che?" The Scottish dog crossed his arms.

Evie's pale cheeks turned pink at the sarcasm and she stopped pointing, feeling rather foolish. She cleared her throat, "sorry, I'm from... out of town."

"Clearly," the Scottish dog scoffed. "You don't see me fussin' over yer appearance."

"Now, now, no harm done," the British dog brushed off the apology with a wave of his paw. "Allow me to to introduce myself. I am Sir Colin Bartholomew Montgomery Rothchild III, Rothy for short. And these are my associates, Sir Angus McDuffy…"

"Aye," Angus nodded in greeting.

"And… ugh...Drifus, you're drooling again."

The bulldog looked sheepish before giving his head a vigorous shake, sending drool flying everywhere including his two friends and Evie. Noticing what he had done, Drifus gave a low "sorry."

"That is Sir Drifus Alexander." Rothchild finished dryly before pulling a handkerchief seemingly out of nowhere and wiping himself off.

"Right…" Evie shook her wrists as she stood up, trying to fling the slobber off. _That's disgusting…  
_  
"And may we have the pleasure of knowing your name?" Rothchild asked.

"Evelyn Atwood. I go by Evie." She replied, finally calming down. "Please, can you tell me where I am? I am really lost."

"Most certainly," Rothchild beamed. "We are currently located in the Central Hub of the city. Sector D."

Evie frowned slightly. "This city wouldn't happen to be Kyoto, would it?"

"Ki-yoto?" The dogs looked at one another and Angus shrugged. Rothchild turned back to Evie, "I'm afraid I have not heard of this Ki-yoto. Is that where you are from?"

Evie's stomach sank like a rock. "N-not exactly. I was a touring Kyoto before I found myself here. But at the very least, this country _is_ Japan, right?" Now that she thought about it, she had yet to meet anyone who even spoke Japanese. So far, everything was in English.

"Well, it used to be called Japan several hundred years ago," Rothchild said and scratched his chin in thought. "But now that you mention it," he pulled out a random electronic contraption and began pressing buttons until he got the result he wanted, "aha! There it is. Kyoto! The once thriving capital of Imperial Japan."

Evie looked over his shoulder at the screen. It showed a map of Japan and the red dot, she guessed, was Kyoto. She was about to correct Rothchild that Kyoto wasn't the capital when she remembered, "oh yeah, it was the capital, before they changed it to Tokyo."

"Tokyo?" Rothchild typed that in and pressed search. An error screen popped up. "Hmm, I'm afraid that Tokyo isn't part of our history. You must be mistaken."

Evie couldn't help but let out a nervous laugh as she straightened back up. "How can that be right? It's the current capital of Japan."

The dogs gave her strange looks.

"No, no, Kyoto was the last and final capital before the Aku era." Rothchild explained, though he studied Evie with a confused eye. "And like I said before, this isn't Japan anymore."

Not Japan _anymore_? How was that even possible? Did she miss something? Evie frowned, the skin between her eyebrows furrowing in puzzlement. "Aku… Aku…. I keep seeing and hearing that name everywhere. He's that derpy ogre on all those ads, right? What's the deal with him?"

The dogs visibly became very disturbed by her words and began to look around nervously. Rothchild took her hand with his paw. "Here, come with me. Let's talk where it's less crowded," he spoke in a hushed voice.

Evie let Rothchild pull her along while Angus and Drifus followed. Once they reached an empty street, the blue dachshund pulled out a different device and planted a scanner/muzzle onto his nose. Evie flinched when he sniffed at her with it but he quickly turned his attention to his computer. His eyes went round at the results, "well! As I live and breathe! Not only are you not from this town, but there are no DNA trace records of you anywhere!"

"What? Le' me take a look at that!" the Scottish terrier ripped the device out of Rothchild's hand and read it. He snorted. "Clearly this contraption is faulty. You have been scammed, Rothchild. I hope you can get yer money back."

"Nonsense!" Rothchild snatched the device back from Angus. "This is of my very own invention and I'll have you know that my inventions are always fault-free."

"Then why is it saying that she doesn't exist?" Drifus finally spoke up as he pointed to the screen.

"..."

"..."

"..."

"Perhaps I may have forgotten to adjust the stabilizer…" the blue dog shook the device next to his ear, as if to check for loose parts.

"Uh… I don't mean to be rude," Evie began, growing more and more uncomfortable with the situation. "But what are you all talking about?"

"That is what we are trying to figure out," Angus grumbled.

Rothchild hummed in thought before shrugging and stuffing the device away into his bag. "I suppose we will have to do this the old fashioned way." He turned to Evelyn with a concerned look and asked, "tell me, my dear. Is it true that you do not know who Aku is?"

"Well, now that you mention it, I have heard stories…" Evie pondered for a moment.

Rothchild smiled in relief and nodded to his friends, seeming to accept that answer.

"Isn't he that one demon who terrorized Japan until the Emperor's son finally slain him after becoming a full fledged samurai warrior? It was one of my favorite fairy tales growing up."

…

"Alright then, question number two," Rothchild changed the subject so fast that Evie was certain that she had answered incorrectly. "When were you born?"

"February 14, 1997." There, that was easy. There was no way that she could have gotten that…. Wrong?

Judging by the dumbfounded looks on the dog's faces (aside from Angus; his hat and fur seemed to cover up all possible traces of facial expression), they seemed to believe that it was. Evie began to doubt her own memory. Surely she couldn't make a mistake regarding her own birthdate, right? She knew for a fact that she was born on Valentine's Day, maybe that's why they were looking at her like that? It wasn't the most beloved holiday...

"What country do you hail from?"

"The United States of America."

"I have never heard of such a place!" Rothchild was astounded and pressed further, "Who is the ruler of that land?"

"Uh... we don't have a ruler. We do have a president, but it's mainly run by the federal government."

That seemed to stun the dogs even more. Rothchild even pulled out a notepad and began to jot her words down, like a psychiatrist or even a detective." Who was the first person to step onto the moon?" he finally asked.

Okay, that was a random question.

"Neil Armstrong."

Some more scribbling until finally, he stopped and slowly closed the notebook. "My dear, Evelyn…" he said seriously before with a bright smile, he flung the pen and notebook away as he spread his arms in a 'eureka!' fashion. "I think that we have found the cause of your conundrum!" Rothchild told her with a bright smile.

"We have?" Drifus asked, looking rather lost.

"I have thought it to be strange when I saw you. Purebred humans are so very rare in this day and age, especially in a big city such as this one."

"An endangered species," Angus added. "Practically extinct, you are."

Now Evie felt like she had heard and seen everything. Talking dogs… Japan not existing… endangered humans... This world was completely topsy turvy!

"Normally I would have said that you are from another planet but my device has clearly labeled you as an earthling, despite denying your existence. I still stand by my word that my invention is working perfectly fine. So this could only mean that you come from an alternative reality!" Rothchild looked completely ecstatic with the discovery. "A reality where Japan still exists! A reality without Aku in it!"

"Aye, either that or she's a complete nutcase," Angus jabbed in.

"Stop! Hold the phone…" Evie put her hand up, stopping him. She pinched the bridge of her nose between her thumb and index finger as she breathed in and out. Taking this all in- well… it was a hard pill to swallow. "So what you are trying to say is that I'm in a different dimension entirely?"

"Precisely!" Rothchild wagged his tail in excitement. "It's the only logical explanation as to why my invention couldn't trace your roots."

"Okay…" Evie breathed out and nodded. "I guess that makes sense." Honestly, no. Nothing made sense. She had half the mind to claim that this was all a dream. Nothing else would explain the extreme change in the setting. "So who is this Aku character you've been going on about?"

"He is the source of our troubles," the blue dog said sadly. "He is our demon overlord. The shogun of sorrow. And unlike the story of your world, he has taken control of our poor planet and has terrorized countless others."

"I wish we had a samurai hero..." Drifus moaned sadly.

"Gosh..." Evie looked over at a projection of Aku biting into a Subway-like sandwich. Sure, he looked freaky but… he also was rather comical munching on that sandwich. Somehow, she couldn't imagine someone like that taking over the universe. If it was true, the name 'Aku' fit him perfectly - it being the literal meaning of 'evil' and all. Evie had taken a year of Japanese to recognize that much. Taking that into account, it probably would be for the best if she did not stick around much longer. "You wouldn't happen to know a way for me to get back to my world, do you?" she asked. ' _Or how to get me to wake up?'_

The three sentient dogs shared a few worried glances at one another.

"Well, the thing is lass…" Angus began hesitantly.

"While space, time and interdimensional travel is not unheard of here…" Rothchild added slowly.

"You'd need special permission," Rifus finished.

"From who?"

"Aku," they all answered simultaneously.

"No one comes an' goes without his say-so," Angus said. "Yer lucky that he hasn't noticed you. That is, if he hasn't already."

Evie swallowed heavily. That was certainly not the answer that she was looking for. Her only hope of going back was by asking the devil himself? "And what are the chances of him helping me?"

"Not very likely," Rothchild shook his head sadly. "And even if there was the slightest chance, I would not recommend it. In fact, I would highly advise against it. From the sound of it, your world has been pure and untouched by his evil for generations. If he were to find out that such a world exists..." he shuddered.

Evie's eyes lowered to the ground, distraught and her hand tightened into a fist. So dealing with the devil was out of the question; not that she wanted to. She was actually quite relieved that she didn't have to… but at what cost? "Then what can I do?" her voice was broken. "I have a family. A home. A future…" She could feel a lump forming in the back of her throat and she tried to push it back down. Dream or not, she wanted everything to return back to normal.

Her three new friends watched her in silence, pity written all over their faces. They could see tears forming and it was breaking their poor doggy hearts.

Rothchild walked over to Evie and patted her on the leg. "I am so very sorry. I'm afraid that there is nothing that can be done."

"If we had a way, we'd offer it to you in a heartbeat," Angus sympathized.

"But that isn't to say that you can't have a family, home and future here," the blue dachshund tried with a smile, hoping to cheer Evie up. "We can help you get settled in!"

"And how are we goin' to do that, Rothy?" Angus asked, biting his pipe.

"She's going to need a place to stay," Rifus drawled.

"And a job. She can't live if she doesn't work," Angus added.

"I know of just the place." Rothchild snapped his fingers, looking quite proud of himself. "Come! Follow me. We'll have you settled in no time!"

Evie followed behind Rothchild in silence as they joined the crowded street. Angus and Rifus walked on either side of her in a companionable comfort. Her eyes were downcast and her spirits were in the dumps. She wanted to protest to living in a filthy city like this one. She wanted to go home! How could she possibly live in a world where a demon ruled all and where humanity was the minority of the population? Besides, her family would be worried sick about her! Sure, she was supposed to be touring Japan for a few weeks, but when it came time for her to return to Los Angeles… how was her family going to react when she never arrived? They'd be waiting for her at the airport and she wouldn't be there.

A solo tear escaped and slid down her cheek. She hastily wiped it away with the long sleeve of her black shirt. The longer she walked, the more it was starting to become clear that she wasn't dreaming. She could smell the exhaust fumes with such clarity that it couldn't possibly be a dream. Her throat hurt from the lump that formed inside.

"So, how did you wind up in this world in the first place?"

Evie blinked and looked down at Angus. He did not look up at her but kept his focus straight ahead. She realized that he was trying to distract her from her worries. "I'm not… entirely certain how per se," Evie began as she tried to pull up her memories.

* * *

 _Evie was in absolute awe as she wandered about the To-ji temple grounds. Her tour group was taking a lunch break and so everyone was allowed to go where they pleased until the appointed time to regroup. It was a beautiful place. The autumn season had turned the canopy of trees into a mesh of gold, scarlet and brown. Evie relished the sound of crunching leaves beneath her shoes as she walked on the graveled path._

 _She took out her smartphone and was about to snap a few pictures of the scenery when it was suddenly snatched out of her hand._

" _Huh? Hey!" she yelled in annoyance and whirled around. She wanted to give the thief a piece of her mind but she stopped when she saw a Japanese macaque sitting on the ground before her, poking at the phone's screen with wide-eyed curiosity._

' _What is a monkey doing here?' Evie carefully leaned down as to not to startle the animal. The macaque looked up at her and tilted its head, evaluating her with intelligent black eyes. It didn't seem to be at the very least intimidated. 'Must be used to the crowds,' she thought._

" _May I have my phone back please?" she asked as gently as she could, holding out her hand slowly. It was a long stretch to assume that it would just simply listen to her, but being nice was a better option than insulting it. Animals were smart and knew when they were being disrespected._

 _The monkey smiled at her and she nervously smiled back. 'Does it understand me?'_

 _Nope. The monkey stuffed the phone in its mouth and high tailed it out of there before she could blink. "HEY!" Evie exclaimed and charged after it. She had just got that phone a few months back! She was NOT about to lose it! "Give that back! That's not food!"_

 _The monkey cackled as it slipped through the thick shrubbery. Evie struggled through it, ignoring the prickly branches as they scraped and tugged on her blue denim jeans and her black thermal shirt. She stumbled into a glen with a narrow path that was overgrown with moss and grass. Clearly it had not been used for years. "Stop!" she ran after the monkey who was now leaping from tree to tree._

 _It was odd, really. If the macaque wanted to get away, Evie knew that it would have disappeared from view by now. Instead, to her bewilderment, it stopped and waited for her. Then when she was a few feet away, it jumped away again. It went on like that for a good ten minutes. The monkey led Evie further and further into the woods, but it never left her alone. When she began to fall behind, it stopped and waited. It even cooed at her encouragingly when she had to climb up after it over a giant pile of black rocks. The monkey bounced on its back legs as it watched her struggle, cheering her on._

 _Or mocking her… now that she thought about it._

 _But when the monkey began to motioning her to 'come' in a very human like gesture, Evie forgot why she was chasing him in the first place. Suddenly it was less about her phone and more about figuring out what the monkey wanted._

 _When she finally made it to the top, Evie sat down to catch her breath. By this point, Evie didn't even realize that she had lost track of where she was. The monkey was leading her up into the mountains. Evie's hands and knees were wet and stained from the dirt and grass and she thanked the lucky stars that the monkey was using a path that she could follow._

 _She nearly jumped into the air when her phone landed in her lap. The monkey made some soft noises and patted her on the head as if saying "good job."_

" _Thanks?" Evie watched as the macaque clambered towards a torii gate and ran through it, going deeper into the woods._

 _First things first, Evie checked to make sure that her phone wasn't broken. Turning the screen on, she sighed in relief before realizing something crucial._

 _The battery was at 1%._

" _Ah! No don't-"_

 _The screen went black._

" _-die…"_

 _Getting up, Evie groaned in irritation and stuffed the phone into the back pocket of her jeans. She looked up at the brown torii gate. It was ancient and had long lost its vermilion paint, with only flakes of it left. Most likely it hadn't been cared for in a very long time, especially since it didn't seem to lead to or from anywhere. It might have been a sacred place once, but now it was forgotten. Japanese characters were etched vertically into one of the torii's posts and Evie traced the ones she could reach with her fingers, carefully as to not tempt any splinters. The kanji was too complicated for her one year worth of Japanese lessons back in college._

 _For no reason other than simple curiosity, Evie walked through the gate._

 _If she could have read the message engraved on the gate, she would have known that it said:_

" _Caution weary travelers. You leave today to enter a different tomorrow."_

* * *

"And that's how I found myself here," Evie explained sadly. "I couldn't go back the way I came because the gate wasn't there."

"Hmm, sounds like one of those one-way portal gates," Angus said after a moment's ponder.

"That's a thing?"

"In legend at least. They take yeh wherever you wish to go, but the catch is- you can't use the same gate twice." Angus turned his head in Evie's direction. "Odd that yeh would choose this world to visit."

Evie felt ruffled by that comment and she glared at small black dog. "I did not choose to come here."

"Where did yeh want to go then?" Rothchild glanced back over his shoulder at them.

"Nowhere in particular. I was just curious."

"Well, that answers that question," Angus snorted in dry amusement. "You didn't choose so it chose for yeh. That's what yeh get for bein' curious like a cat."

"But there has to be another gate then, right?" Evie pressed eagerly, clinging desperately to hope.

"Good luck findin' one. No one knows where they be located."

Evie sighed, but the hope that there was a way back kept her from falling back into a pit of despair. She lifted her chin up and straightened her back. No, there was no point in moaning about the situation. If life gives you lemons then you gotta make lemonade. ' _I've got to change my point of view on things,_ ' she thought to herself firmly. ' _Perhaps I was sent here for a reason. It's a whole brand new world! I should think of this as an adventure! Just think, Evie. You'll be like Odysseus! Braving the strange and unknown while trying to get back home._ ' She nodded to herself with a tiny smirk forming on her face.

Now, truth be told, Evie didn't want to be anything like Odysseus. It is one thing to read about a hero's journey and the trials and tribulations that come with the whole shebang. It's an entirely different tale when you're the central character of your own story. The last thing that Evie wanted was any confrontation with cannibalistic monsters or find herself in the underworld. Evelyn Atwood was not known for her bravery afterall. However, Evie had always been a curious human being. Exploring and learning new things had always been her main drive in life, in moderation of course.

"Ah, here we are!" Rothchild spread out his arms when they reached a metal black door that was illuminated by red lights. Evie stared at the building, her bravado failing at the sight of the shady looking joint. She could hear a distant beat playing inside.

'Is this a rave?' she wondered.

"The Busy Bazaar?" Angus was appalled almost as much as she was. "You want her to work here? But this is the red light district!"

"What?!" Evie squeaked and looked at Rothchild in horror.

"Angus, my old boy," Rothchild chuckled warmly. "This entire city is the red light district. Besides, you and I both know that this pub is nothing too atrocious."

"Define 'atrocious.'" Evie said through gritted teeth.

Rothchild noticed the death glare that she was sending down at him and he waved his arms about frantically. "Now, now, there! I wouldn't send you to do anything of that nature! Goodness me, no! Otherwise I wouldn't frequent this place! Compared to other pubs in town, this is the safest one."

"So… no prostitution," Evie confirmed with a stirn frown.

"Absolutely not!" Rothchild insisted. "They have a strict 'hands, paws, claws, fins, and tentacles off' policy."

'Tentacles…' Evie shuddered. Yup, this was certainly still Japan. "If you say so…" she finally muttered with nervousness. 'So this is just a normal bar? I can handle that… I think…'

The blue dachshund dog rapped three times at the door, his tongue sticking out goofily from the corner of his mouth. Suddenly, three vertical eye slots opened in the door, one after the other. "Who's there?" the gruff voice demanded angrily.

"Why, don't you recognize me, Fuzzy?" Rothchild smiled brightly.

The three pairs of eyes looked downwards to Rothchild and they widened. "Oh! Just one moment." The slots slammed shut and seconds later the door was sliding open. Instantly music was blaring out from the inside with such an intensity that Evie could physically feel the beat pounding down at her. Instinctively, she covered her ears to protect them from the noise. In the doorway, just like she had expected, stood an alien with three set of eyes and four arms. He was large and completely covered in brown hair.

' _I see where the name Fuzzy comes from…'_ Evie tenderly pulled her hands away from her ears as they slowly but surely adjusted to the volume.

"Fuzzy, how very nice to see you again and what luck too! I believe that I have found you a new hire," Rothchild motioned towards Evie and she flinched back slightly when Fuzzy turned his eyes in her direction. "You have mentioned that another one of your girls has quit recently?"

Evie gulped and forced a smile on. ' _Yeah? Why did she quit?'_ she couldn't help but wonder. "Hello…" she said timidly, her voice almost being drowned by the music.

"Indeed," Fuzzy scrutinized Evie, clearly taking into account that she was human. At first, she thought that he was going to turn her away merely for that detail but then he stood aside, allowing them passage. "She will do."

Evie's eyebrows rose in surprise. That's it? No lengthy interview? She was hired just like that? ' _Just how desperate is he for a new worker?_ ' The longer she stood there, the less she wanted to go inside. Feeling a nudge, she looked down at Rothchild who nodded at her encouragingly.

"Go on, my dear. They will take good care of you."

"What? Aren't you coming?" Evie felt her knees start to tremble. They were just leaving her here?

"I'm afraid that we have to return back to work," Rothchild apologized. "But don't fret, you will be seeing us often. After all, this is the best joint in the city! We'll come by again tomorrow evening to see how you are fairing."

"Good luck, lass," Angus nodded at her. "And whatever yeh do, don't stare."

"O-kay…?" Evie was growing more and more uncertain by the second.

"See you later," Rifus had the last word before they waved to her and walked away. Evie stood there watching them leave. Her hands shook so much that she had to clench them into fists to get them to stop.

"Are you coming in or not?" Fuzzy gruffly rumbled behind her.

Seeing that she was low on options, Evie reluctantly walked into the bar. The door immediately slammed shut behind her causing her to jump a foot into the air.

"Skittish, aren't you?"

"I'm new in town," Evie rubbed the back of her neck, trying to pad down the hairs that were sticking up.

"What's your name?" Fuzzy towered over her and Evie couldn't help but inch away. He was large and she found him greatly intimidating.

E-Evelyn A-atwood," she managed to stutter out. "Please...call me Evie…"

The alien grunted and held out one of his many giant hands. "Fuzzy," he introduced himself. Evie carefully put her hand in his and he shook it with remarkable gentleness. Her tense muscles relaxed slightly at that.

' _I guess he's more scary in appearance._ '

"Lawrence! Fill in for me. I've got to get this kid settled in!" Fuzzy bellowed over his shoulder.

"Sure thing, boss," a shorter alien saluted.

Evie followed Fuzzy further inside and that's when she had a good look at the place. Her mouth fell open at it all. This was certainly the red light district. Stripper girls were dancing in colorful luminescent bubble cages wearing nothing but what Evie would call cosmic Lady Gaga swimsuits. Thankfully, none of them stripped any further than that.

"I don't have to do that, do I?" Evie swallowed.

"Hmm?" Fuzzy glanced up to where she was looking and grunted when he understood what Evie was talking about. "Part of the job. Don't worry. No one is allowed to touch you. We're not that sort of club."

Evie nodded mutely. Her face turned pink and averted her eyes from the girls. It wasn't as bad as it could be, but still! This was a wild change from her part time job at her local library.

"Ah, Gem! There you are." Fuzzy announced warmly as a platinum blonde alien waitress with three eyes walked towards them while carrying a tray full of dirty dishes.

She wore a revealing two-piece outfit, pink with a sparkling red jewels that adorned her skirt like planets revolving around the sun. She was very lovely, Evie had to admit: full breasts, round hips and long feminine legs. Her lips were like plump cherries, very alluring. Her hair was cropped short and neat. Overall, she was radiating sex-appeal.

"Hello Fuzzy," she greeted in a sultry voice. "And who is this?"

"This is the new girl. You'll be training her."

"Oh?" Gem scanned her up and down before sneering. "A human? Fuzzy, you need to up your standards. Imagine a gangly thing like _her_ serving and entertaining the customers. It would be an insult!"

Evie's jaw dropped. Honestly, she was so shocked by the remark that she didn't know what to say or how to feel.

Fuzzy didn't appreciate the sass. "We don't discriminate in this building, Gem. The only reason why you're still working here is because of your high demand with the customers!"

Gem huffed and looked away with a pout.

"I just pray you won't chase her away as you did the others." Fuzzy turned to Evie and handed her a key. "This is to your dorm. I don't suppose you have a place to stay?"

"No, I don't. Thank you, sir!" Evie took the key with gratitude.

"Gem will show you to your room and find you something suitable to wear. You can start work tomorrow." He grunted before turning around and walking back into the crowd, leaving Evie all alone with the three-eyed waitress.

Evie timidly looked up at Gem who in return looked down at her with disgust.

Gem ' _hmphed!_ ' and rolled her many eyes. "Let's get this over with. Follow me." She didn't say another word and began to walk briskly away, leaving Evie to scramble after her.

* * *

 _ **A/N**_ _: Yaaay! A 'Samurai Jack' fanfiction! I have been wanting to write this one for a LONG time! Speaking of long, this is the longest 1st chapter that I have written in any story. We will be meeting Jack in the next chapter. Evie popped into the Aku-verse one day early. Just so you know, this story is a Jack x OC fic and it's a slow burn. Meaning, there will be a lot of character development and growth before the two of them will start to have feelings for each other. So yeah, if you're hoping for Jack x Ashi, I'm afraid that you're reading the wrong story. Also, this story follows the show, so if you're not into that sort of thing, feel free to give this story a skip._

 _I also might re-edit stuff as I go along, because mistakes are bound to happen. In any case, reviews will be greatly appreciated. For those of you who decide to stay and join Evie on her adventure, I hope you will not be disappointed. :) I also draw my own art for my fanfiction! Feel free to check it out on my deviantart page. The username is the same as the one I use here. :)_

 _What Samurai Jack episode are you looking forward to the most? Let me know in the reviews! See you in chapter 2!_


	2. Samurai Jack

**Chapter 2:** Samurai Jack

* * *

" _Each meeting occurs at the precise moment for which it was meant. Usually, when it will have the greatest impact on our lives."_

― _**Nadia Scrieva, Fathoms of Forgiveness**_

* * *

It was the second day and Evie had resigned to the fact that she was not dreaming. Gem proved it by sharply rapping on her door, waking her up from a dreamless sleep. Evie's head shot up from her pillow, her long golden hair in a giant mess. Before she could answer, the three-eyed waitress entered the room with her hands on her round hips.

"Are you planning to sleep all day?" Gem gave the human girl a nasty scowl.

Evie blinked sleepily and rubbed her eyes. "What time is it?" she muttered and looked out the window only to see that it was just as dark and dreary as the night prior. Perhaps it was a _little_ brighter than she remembered, but Evie wasn't sure if it was just her imagination. She could also feel the room vibrating slightly to a beat. The bar must be open already. Or… was it open 24 hours?

"It's _time_ to get to work, lazy ass," Gem stalked over and pulled Evie's covers off.

Evie squeaked and pulled down on her black shirt to cover her undies. She had taken her gray denim jeans off before getting into bed and had hung them over a chair next to the empty writing desk by the window.

Gem clicked her tongue disapprovingly and shook her head. "You'd better throw away all of that demure crap. You will be showing a lot of skin out there, so if you can't handle that, you might as well leave now."

"You...just startled me, is all," Evie's cheeks turned pink as she looked down at her bare legs. The fine hairs on them stood up on end from the rush of cold that attacked when the blanket was pulled away. "I'll be fine."

The waitress made an unconvinced noise in her throat but made no move to respond. Instead, she threw something orange at Evie and the girl struggled to catch it. It was a two piece costume that looked similar to Gem's pink one. "Put that on," Gem commanded in a tone that held no room for objection.

"But it's so… tiny." Evie compared it to her body. It looked like it was made for a doll and not for someone who was human-sized. It couldn't possibly fit.

"It's elastic," Gem said sharply. "Fuzzy is all about _equality,"_ she made air quotes with her fingers, "so he made sure that one size fits all. Even if you were the size of this building, you'd have no trouble squeezing in. Now quit stalling! If you're not out in five minutes, I'm dragging you out whether you are dressed or not!" With that, Gem flipped her short pale hair and slammed the door on the way out, but not before tossing a pair of orange heels onto the floor by Evie's bed.

Evie stared at the door until the echo of the slamming door finally ebbed away in her ears. She looked down at the small orange top with doubt and she stretched it back and forth with her fingers. It was super stretchy, and the material felt like it was made out of that 90's Nickelodeon gak stuff that her younger brothers were obsessed with. It smelled like it too. The idea of _wearing_ it made Evie shudder.

Still, Gem scared her even more, so Evie tried putting on the skirt/pants portion first. Like Gem had said, the thin material stretched effortlessly and slid up her legs with ease. The cool plastic feel of the material made Evie squirm a bit, but to her surprise, it quickly adjusted to her body temperature. At last, she braved on the top. Goosebumps rose on her skin at the unnatural sensation of the material on her upper body, but like the skirt, it molded to her body perfectly and Evie found that it wasn't so bad. It actually… was pretty comfortable and easy to move around in.

She moved to check her appearance in the body mirror next to the tiny closet. It looked little more than a gaudy shimmering bathing suit. The planet-like orange beads jingled and glittered lightly around her hips. Evie flicked one with her finger. The beads spun around like a carousel, revolving around her like she was the sun. "I can't believe I'm wearing this…" Evie muttered. The idea of having to serve customers in such attire was embarrassing. ' _Pretend that you are at a beach…'_ she thought to herself.

 _And at least she didn't have to wear bunny ears._

Quickly, she fixed her hair and tied it up with an orange-beaded scrunchie (that was somehow included), Evie put on the shiny orange high heels and struggled not to break an ankle as she walked wobbly towards the door. Opening it, she nearly jumped a foot into the air when she saw Gem glaring angrily at her.

"Gem!" she yelped.

"About time!" Gem grabbed Evie's arm and pushed her out the door. "Now let's go! We're on the clock!"

* * *

Gem was a horrible trainer. That or she just wanted Evie to quit, which was the most probable reason. The moment they arrived on the music-filled first floor, Gem handed her two large trays of drinks and food and told her to serve table four. She left quickly after that.

Evie blinked blankly around the large crowded room. Where _was_ table four? Looking around like a lost child, she noticed one table that hadn't been served yet. Perhaps that was table four? Evie walked carefully and slowly, trying her best not to tip the trays or her heels. She had to dodge around dancers and rowdy customers while constantly saying "excuse me…" and "sorry!" and "coming through." It probably took her fifteen minutes to reach the table and already, her arms were dying from the weight of the trays. "Excuse me," she tried with a smile. The customers were two cat-like people and they looked up with piercing green slitted eyes. "Did you order this?"

"No, we asked for catnip cider and three ratwitches." Came the unimpressed answer.

"Oh, I'm sorry." Evie began to sweat as her arms began to shake. "It's my first day on the job. I don't know where table four is…"

"Isn't it- like… over there?" One of the cat people pointed a claw towards the very front of the room...which was _very_ far away and even more crowded. "This is table sixty eight."

"Oh…" Evie blanched. She forced on a smile, "thank you so much. And I'm so sorry for the mistake." She quickly (as she could) walked in the maze-like room just to get to her destination. By some miracle, she managed to reach table four without tripping, falling, being bumped into, or dropping the trays.

"Here is your order…" she panted. She placed the trays in front of a family of three R2D2-like robots. "Please, enjoy." Oh god, her arms had never felt happier to be down at her sides.

The robots stared at the food and then looked up at Evie. "We did not order this," one said in a mecha voice.

"Huh?" Evie's eyes went round in disbelief. "Isn't this table four?"

"Yes, it is. But we did not order this. We do not require sustenance."

"..."

Evie stood there gaping like an idiot. ' _If they don't eat or drink, then_ _ **why**_ _are they here?!'_ she screamed in her mind. She looked up and to her horror, she found Gem smirking evilly at her from across the room. The three-eyed waitress noticed Evie's staring and merely shrugged as if to say 'it's your fault' before turning away and continued to flirt with her customer along with three other waitresses.

In all honesty, Evie couldn't remember the last time she felt angry. It usually took _a lot_ to get under her skin. But Gem seemed to be an expert in that art. Evie grit her teeth behind her mouth and she clenched her fists. "I'm sorry for the mistake, it will _not_ happen again," she promised. She grabbed the trays and she stormed in Gem's direction.

Gem was sitting in an large alien's lap while giggling shamelessly when Evie approached. She only noticed the girl when Evie's shadow fell upon her. "Can I help you, Phoebe?"

"It's _Evie,_ " she replied coldly. "You told me that this belonged to table four. Well, guess what? They said that they didn't order it."

"Oh, didn't they?" Gem smiled prettily, her voice feigning ignorance. "The ones who ordered it probably left before you even reached the table. How long does it take for a human to walk in heels? I had already finished serving ten customers." Gem began to laugh, setting off a chain reaction from the other girls.

Evie's face flushed in mortification. Her anger turned into self-conscious fear at being judged and Evie lowered her eyes in shame.

"Aww, don't feel bad," Gem taunted as she stood up, placing a hand on her hip. "After all, not everyone can handle this job like I can. Just face it. You are probably more suited for a more _human_ job. Perhaps the slave mines? I hear that they are always hiring."

Evie swallowed and glared angrily at Gem. She was _not_ running away from this witch. "Don't underestimate me. I'll show you that I can do this job just as well as you can!"

"Oh ho…" Gem raised her dainty brows. "Then prove it. If you can serve all your customers without making a single mistake today, then I shall admit that you've got what it takes. If not…" Gem gave Evie a cruel smile, "you quit."

"But that's impossible!" Evie protested. "It's only my first day! How could I possibly-"

"Is that the sound of your resignation I hear?" Gem put a hand to her ear and blinked her long eyelashes with sweet anticipation.

Evie bit her lip. "Fine."

"Well, go on then." Gem shooed Evie away with her hand. "Jeffrey will direct you to the tables."

"Who's Jeffrey?"

Gem pointed over her shoulder at the long green alien with multiple octopus arms at the chef's corner. He was chopping up sushi, flipping the stir fry, and reaching for empty plates all at the same time.

' _Impressive…_ ' Evie couldn't help but think. She spared Gem a small nod before walking headfirst into this bet.

Hours had passed and Evie worked like she had never worked before. She migrated from table to table, stall to stall, customer to customer. More than once she had questioned what were in the lit up drinks, especially the ones that had living clams inside. Being the new girl, she was the target of much attention from practically everyone and it made her very uncomfortable. Sometimes the customers were nice and complemented Evie on her politeness and her smile. More often than not, however, she had to serve customers that either leered at her perversely and catcalled her.

"Hey, baby! Are you really a human or do you have a tail hidden in those tight shorts of yours?" one alien whistled.

Evie reddened but ignored the taunts as much as she was able to without insulting the guests.

The lunch break was a heaven sent for Evie. During those thirty minutes, she grabbed the most edible plate that she could find and retreated up into her room and _cried_ as much as she could. The cruel verbal jabs from so many people hurt. While no one had touched her, she still felt violated. The sneers, the mocking remarks, the _noise_ and the stress was really nothing to sneeze at. It was taking a toll on the poor young woman. Evie was terribly homesick. The knowledge that she was stuck in this god forsaken place only made her feel that much more trapped.

The only thing that kept her even remotely sane right now was Rothchild's promise to return that evening and the desire to prove to Gem that Evie was not someone to be trampled over.

The food wasn't bad. Luckily, the steak was truely steak. The mashed potatoes were still mashed potatoes even if her tears had made them salty.

After letting out a good cry and filling her belly, Evie felt like she could finally brave the hell downstairs once more. Her arms ached and her feet were screaming in protest when she put on those atrocious heels again.

More hours passed and the workload was finally starting to show in Evie's performance. Her legs trembled with every step she took and she could swear that the popped blisters on her feet were forming new blisters. Evie could no longer hide the pain that she was in with a smile. Each time that she tried, it instantly turned into a grimace. By the way, was it her imagination or was she the only waitress serving customers? Most of the girls seemed to be dancing away in their glowing bubbles in the air while Gem… where was Gem anyway?

While she grew lost in her daze, someone bumped into her from behind and she tripped. With a sharp squeal, Evie fell forwards and her tray fell out of her hands. She fell flat against the floor and to her horror, she could hear the glass and porcelain crash and break. If that wasn't bad enough, she could hear someone exclaim in outrage.

Well… she could kiss this job goodbye now.

Fearfully, Evie glanced up to see a fuming lizard man glaring down at her. The trays had spilled all over him and the other aliens and robots that were standing with him. She was so terrified by her accident that Evie did not even notice the stranger kneeling across from her in front of the lizard alien, with his hands pressed together in an apology. She had accidentally intruded on some sort of situation.

"Do you have a death wish, female?!" The lizard snarled in a mechanical voice. It looked like he was already in a horrible mood before Evie had even gotten involved. He held a strange device that began to unfold into what looked like a mix between a spear and a leaf blower.

"I'm sorry…" Evie whimpered, scooting back away on her hands and knees from the weapon that was now pointed at her. "I d-didn't mean to… It was an a-accident."

" _Another_ human?" The lizard bared his teeth. "It looks like we have an infestation."

Evie gasped when the blade was suddenly pointed at her neck, it's sharp metal glinting in the light. Was she seriously being threatened right now? "Please… I didn't mean any harm!"

The creature barked out a laugh. "Don't worry. The one who will be harmed isn't _me_." He pulled back the weapon in preparation to attack and thrust it at her face! "It is you!"

Before she could blink or scream, the weapon was knocked out of the lizard man's hand with a loud metallic _clang_. She watched as it clattered harmlessly to the ground several feet away before her vision was suddenly obstructed by white. A dark haired man stood between her and the assailant with a katana held firmly in his grip. Evie couldn't see his face for his back was to her. Instead, all she could see was that his hair was tied neatly up into a Japanese topknot. His shoulders were broad and tense as he held himself in a defensive position. He wore a white kimono with gray on the rim of his long wide sleeves. On his feet he wore a pair a wooden sandals.

' _A samurai?_ ' Evie wondered.

"I strongly suggest that you cease this needless violence," the man warned. Each word was spoken with a calm precision, but Evie could detect a hint of danger just lingering below the surface of the slight Japanese accent. "There is no honor in attacking the innocent."

In that instant, they were surrounded by half a dozen lizard people. Evie's head twisted back and forth in a panic. She didn't realize there were so many of them! The samurai's hands tightened on the sword's hilt and his stance widened. Evie could catch the glimpse of his determined eyes in the reflection of the clear blade.

"There is no innocence in ignorance." The lizard sneered. That seemed to be the permission for the creatures to attack because the one behind Evie lunged. She cried out and she ducked down to the floor with her hands over her head.

The samurai spun, his sword arching around over Evie's huddled form in a semi-circle. With that single swift motion, the lizard's wrist was cut clean off, weapon and all. The hand landed in front of the girl. It twitched on the ground, wires sparking and popping from within.

Evie's eyes widened.

It was a robot.

The lizard shrieked, whether from pain or rage, Evie did not know. For a moment there was silence between all of them. Then the DJ switched the tempo and the room began to jump to the beat.

The lizards all attacked the samurai at once, this time, their focus was all on the one with the sharp sword instead of the quivering woman. They blasted rockets out of their hands at him all at once and he dodged. The robots kept aiming at the samurai, but he leapt into the air and then rolled out of the way, purposefully leading the danger away from Evie. It worked. The lizards advanced towards the samurai, passing her while the yellow smoke screen from the missiles engulfed all of them.

Taking that as her cue to get the hell out of there, Evie crawled away on all fours while coughing from the foul fumes. "Forget the bet…" she croaked, her eyes stinging from the smoke. "I'm quitting. This is _so_ not worth my life." She ignored the sound of metal clashing behind her and only winced when she heard a small explosion. To her astonishment, no one reacted to the brawl in the building. Customers were still peacefully sipping their beverages like this was a normal occurrence. Perhaps… it actually was.

"No, no. I'm out." Evie shook her head before getting back on her feet and fleeing back to her room to gather her belongings.

* * *

The battle was relatively short. The samurai managed to defeat all six of the robot soldiers by cutting off all their arms. The lizard men lay still and out cold on the ground like fallen flies. The samurai straightened up and slid his sword back into its sheath. His eyes searched around for the waitress he had saved, but to his disappointment, she was nowhere to be seen. He had hoped to ask her a few questions about his whereabouts, considering that she was the only other human around.

"Ahem, pardon me, my fine sir," a voice sounded behind him. The samurai looked about but didn't see who it was speaking to him. A hand grabbed him by his robe and tugged a few times. "Down here, old fellow."

The man turned his eyes downwards. His mouth fell open in shock. It was a blue dog standing on its two hind legs!

Rothchild wagged his tail with vigor. "I was just wondering if you would be so kind as to join us, as we are-"

"Talking demon dogs!" The samurai exclaimed, flinching backwards.

"Good heavens! Where?!" Rothchild turned around. His eyes darted back and forth, searching for the said demons.

The samurai reached for his sword again and his eyes narrowed distrustfully. "You will not best me this day, you vile henchman of Aku!"

Realizing that the man was in fact talking about him, Rothchild spun back around, his paws open in surrender. "Hold on a moment, sir! I am by no means a demon," he chuckled a bit at that, "or have anything to do with Aku."

The samurai kneeled down in front of the talking dog, his hand gripping his chin in thought. "But you speak in the language of men," he argued.

"But of course," Rothchild beamed but then paused when a sense of deja vu swept over him. "Oh, how very odd. I have this strangest feeling that I have had this conversation once before…" he said out loud, mostly to himself. But whatever that feeling was, Rothschild quickly shrugged it off. He turned back to the samurai, "I take it that you are not from around here, are you?"

The look on the samurai's face confirmed Rothchild's suspicions.

"I say, why don't you come join my friends and me for a refreshment? And we will explain everything!"

The samurai pondered the invitation for a moment, weighing his options. He had never been invited to a drink before by a dog, much less a talking one. But was that really important right now? Despite the strangeness of it all, he needed answers and this dog was offering to give them to him. The samurai finally nodded.

"Splendid!" Rothchild grinned, "right this way!" he rolled his 'r' as he led the way to his booth. It only took a minute's hesitation until the samurai finally followed after.

In the private green table booth, the samurai found himself in the company of three dogs. The bulldog and the pipe-smoking scottish terrier stared at him while Rothchild pleasantly waited for their drinks to arrive. The silence stretched between them, allowing the samurai to start doubting his choice of accepting a dog's invitation. The bulldog slowly smiled up at him once they made eye contact and the samurai slowly returned it. Perhaps he should have tried to look for that blonde waitress from earlier…

But then the sliding door opened and a pale haired waitress with three eyes appeared with her tray. "Refreshments are here~" she announced in a sugary sweet voice.

"Splendid!" Rothchild cheered.

She placed three martini cups in front of each of the canines and left a glass pot of cold tea for the samurai. He picked it up and inspected it curiously. It had a clam inside...and it was alive and blinking. The samurai gently placed it back down and scooted it further away. He didn't feel very thirsty anymore.

"Oh, please wait, my dear! Gem was it?" Rothchild stopped the waitress before she could leave.

"Yes?" she smiled.

"Yesterday, you have received a new hire. A girl by the name of Miss Evelyn Atwood. We were hoping that we could request her for the evening. She has had such a trying day yesterday, and as her friends, we thought that our visit would help her lift her spirits."

Gem's smile failed for a brief second before it returned again, bright and cheery. "I am afraid that I don't know who you are talking about." With that, the waitress quickly shut the screen door and left.

"Well, there's a lie and a half," Angus, the Scottish terrier finally spoke before lapping up his refreshment with his tongue. The bulldog, Drifus copied him. "Jealousy filled to the brim with that one, if ye ask me."

Rothchild, however, didn't touch his drink. He looked rather concerned about what the waitress had told him. "Goodness, I wonder if Evelyn has decided not to work here after all… that poor dear."

"Who knows?" Angus shrugged. "Ye can't expect to keep a track of all your strays."

Remembering that the samurai was still with them, Rothchild quickly perked up. "My boy, I do apologize. How _rude_ of us! We haven't introduced ourselves! This is Sir Drifus Alexander," he motioned to the bulldog. "Chief of excavation." Rothchild paused and muttered to his friend behind his hand, "um, Drifus, old boy. You're drooling again…"

Drifus blinked. "Oh! Ooh… sorry." He shook his head, splattering everyone with his drool.

"You blasted idiot!" Angus exclaimed in annoyance. This was clearly a common occurrence. "Yer getting everybody wet!"

"And _this_ fine gentleman is Angus McDuffy! Artifact aficionado," Rothchild moved on before motioning to himself. "And I am Sir Colin Bartholomew Montgomery Rothchild III ...or Rothy for short." He began to chuckle to himself.

"I'm sorry," the samurai wiped the slobber off his face, feeling rather overwhelmed. "I'm very confused. Your world is new to me. What has happened?"

"Oh, no, no, no! Quite alright, quite alright," Rothchild replied and fiddled with his red bowtie. He settled down to explain, "since the beginning of history, the immortal Aku has ruthlessly ruled the earth, plundering its resources as _he_ sees fit- but it _still_ was not enough. He opened the ports to the galaxy so that he might take the riches from other worlds as well! Since then, his otherworldly business affairs has drawn scads of brutish criminals, mindless stooges, and questionable mercenaries to our pitiable planet. Making this world topsy-turvy if I do say so myself!" Rothchild quickly grabbed a napkin and rubbed the drool that was slowly oozing out of Drifus's mouth.

That bit of news was shocking to the samurai and he looked up as if he could see the sky through the ceiling. "There are other worlds across the stars?" he wondered.

Rothchild giggled, "well of _course_ , silly! What world do you hail from?"

"But… I am from Earth," the samurai insisted as the blue dog began to lap his drink up from his cup. "Yet this world is nothing like the world I remember."

Angus shared a curious look with Drifus. "How so, lad?"

"Even the grandest of cities were not overwhelming as this one. Chariots did not fly and dogs did not speak in human tongue."

" _What do you mean?!_ " all three of the dogs exclaimed in disbelief.

"Well, I mean no insult. They were wonderful companions but the dogs I knew merely barked."

Drifus took in a sharp intake of breath like it was the most scandalous thing he had ever heard.

Rothchild on the other hand was ecstatic at the discovery. "You see? The ancient myths are true!" he blurted to his pals.

"Impossible!" Angus slammed his paw onto the table. "If what you say is true, he'd have to be thousands of years old!"

That gave Rothchild the idea to grab the same device that he had scanned Evie with the day prior. He stuffed the muzzle onto his nose and sniffed at the samurai, causing the man to scoot back in alarm. When Rothchild pulled away and checked his invention, he gasped in bewilderment. "Astounding! The age-o-meter dates your partials all the way back to 25 B.A. Twenty-five years before Aku enslaved the Earth. You, my friend, are a living fossil."

The samurai's eyes widened at the revelation. He rubbed at his chin thoughtfully, "so the question isn't where I am but _when_ I am."

"Precisely," Rothchild agreed.

"What is with you humans and getting yourselves lost in space and time?" Angus snorted, trying to hold back a laugh. "This is the second time this week."

"The second? You mean this has happened before?" The samurai asked.

"Just yesterday, to be precise," Rothchild answered in a jolly manner. "You two have so much in common." His ears perked up in attention. "Ah! Speaking of which, there's our girl!"

* * *

Dressed in her normal clothes and her bag on her back, Evie carefully walked around the tables, booths and customers with her head down. She wanted to leave this place without anyone noticing. The less confrontation the better. Evie especially didn't want to bump into Gem and give her the satisfaction of knowing that she had won the bet.

"Miss Evelyn! Over here!"

Evie jumped and turned her head at the sound of her name. To her massive relief, it was Rothchild waving halfway outside from his booth. She could see his tail wagging at an incredible speed from behind the green glass. Evie looked around, making sure that no one else was watching before she jogged over. Rothchild kept the door open for her until she made it inside.

Unfortunately, someone _did_ notice her. Gem narrowed her eyes in suspicion when Evie ran into the booth where the three dogs and the human male were currently sitting. Toxic curiosity got the best of Gem and she stood by the booth, leaning in to eavesdrop on the conversation.

Evie was not expecting the samurai to be among the group. Her mouth fell slightly open, "oh!"

The samurai looked just as surprised to see her as well.

"I … um… th-thank you for saving my life back there," Evie bowed slightly to him like she had seen the Japanese women do, hands crossed over her lap. Her cheeks were a little pink from the shame of not having thanked him earlier. Having run off like that was probably not the most polite thing she could have done.

The samurai stood up and bowed back in return, his back bending more gracefully and with better posture than hers. "Please, it is the least that I could have done."

They both stood like that, bowing to each other. Evie did not know if she should straighten up first...or not… She began to sweat a bit. _Gah_ , she should have just thanked him like a normal American.

Luckily, Rothchild's voice stunned Evie out of her bow. "Ah! So the two of you have already met. Splendid! This makes things so much easier."

"Huh? No...we haven't exactly _met_ ," Evie shook her head and awkwardly rubbed the back of her neck in a nervous habit. "I mean, we didn't get a chance to talk or anything."

"Oh, well in that case, Evelyn Atwood, this is-... er…" Rothchild stopped in mid sentence, realizing that he had no idea how to introduce the samurai to the lady. He turned to the man and smiled apologetically, "I am so sorry, my dear boy, but what name do you go by?"

The samurai didn't answer immediately and instead looked to be in deep thought. He looked so deep in concentration that Evie actually wondered if he had forgotten what it was. But finally, the man looked up with resolution and said firmly, "they call me Jack."

* * *

 **A/N:** _And we have our main man in the house!_


	3. A Dog's Life

**Chapter 3: A Dog's Life**

* * *

" _It's not the size of the dog in the fight, it's the size of the fight in the dog."_

 _-_ _ **Mark Twain**_

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"..."

There was a long pause of silence after that declaration.

Rothchild was the first one to break the ice. "Jack! I see, that's quite nice! So simple yet it seems to fit, but who am I to comment? Well then, Jack! This is Evelyn Atwood. Evelyn Atwood, this is Jack." He spoke so fast and without taking a breath that Evie could barely squeeze in-

"Please, call me Evie."

Was his name really Jack or did he just come up with that on the spot? Evie couldn't help but wonder. The way he dressed, looked, spoke and behaved was so _Japanese_ that him having a name that _wasn't_ was completely out of left field. But then again… there were three talking dogs sitting right across from her, so perhaps she was overthinking it.

"I hope that this does not come off as an intrusive question, but were you sent into this future by Aku as well?" Jack asked her.

Evie shook her head and shrugged, "no. I just… sort of… accidentally… walked through a portal and ended up being stuck here. Why would Aku send you this realm?" She sat next to Drifus who welcomingly made room for her.

Jack sat down as well. "Because I am the only one who is capable of vanquishing him." That was quite the bold if not arrogant claim. Evie's eyes stopped at Jack's sheathed sword which he had strapped to his hip. His hand was clutching the handle tightly as if itching to act on his words. "I cannot allow for his evil a chance to fester and infect the entire world."

"It feels pretty infected already," Evie gave her two cents. "You can't even see the stars from here."

Angus sighed, "and I'm sure he plans to spread his vileness through the stars as well."

"No!" Jack lifted his head and his eyes were determined. "I must return to my own time so that I might undo Aku's evil reign before it envelops the Earth." He clenched his fist tightly, "this ageless demon must be stopped."

Rothchild practically jumped at those words. "Oh, I'm so glad we agree on that point which actually brings us back to our proposal. You see, we are archaeologists trying to dig up the remains of our ancestors to find out more about our past. It was only a few years ago that we discovered that our ancestors walked upon their legs and their arms!" He spread his arms in example as if to say ' _can you believe it?!_ '

Jack and Evie unintentionally shared a look. This was all just too weird.

"Th-that's incredible!" Evie forced on a smile for the dogs. "You must be quite proud of such a discovery."

"Oh, we certainly are! But…" the smile left Rothchild's face as he grew solemn.

Drifus continued for him, "then, one day, during our excavation, we actually stumbled upon rare jewels."

"And that's bad?" Evie asked, not understanding why.

"Aye," Angus nodded. "These jewels ended up being a key source of power for Aku."

"So he enslaved us to forever dig up his jewels thus stifling our excavation of our glorious past. Which is why we need you!" Rothchild grasped Jack's sleeve pleadingly.

Jack looked down at the dachshund with a troubled frown, "but what can I do?"

"With your tremendous skill, you can break us free from the grasp of Aku! And we can escape in secret to again continue to discover our history."

Jack fell silent and closed his eyes as he considered the outcomes.

"That… sounds like a rather high order…" Evie worried, her hands clasping together nervously in her lap. "I don't mean to be a pessimist, but this Aku dude appears to be extremely powerful considering everything that I've heard and seen. Not to mention that he's a demon. How can one man, who is completely out of his element - mind you, free an entire civilization?"

"But we are running out of options!" Rothchild exclaimed, growing desperate. "We have spent years trying to find someone who could help us. You have seen him with his sword out there, haven't you?" The blue dog pointed at Jack. "He is the best chance we have- a chance that I'm afraid that we shall never have again."

This all sounded absolutely unreasonable to Evie. Sure, she felt bad for the poor canines for being enslaved but this was simply too much to ask of a stranger. "But-..."

"I will help you."

Everyone's attention turned back to Jack. Evie's jaw dropped at his definite answer. " _Seriously?_ " Just like that? No if's, but's and or's?

"Splendid!" Rothchild cheered as he jumped out of his seat and opened the automated door. "Well we're off then!" The three dogs led Jack out of their little private stall. Meanwhile, Evie just sat there. She stared after Jack with bewilderment. Never before had she met anyone who was so willing to help start a revolution for free.

Angus's voice snapped her out of her stupor. "Are ye comin' or not?"

"Ah, yeah! Wait for me!" Evie scrambled out after them, not noticing that Gem was hiding just around the corner. As they were making their way towards the exit, Evie came into step with Jack. "Hey, umm… Jack? Is it really okay for you to agree to this?"

"Aku's evil must be stopped." Jack simply stared ahead with sharp focus as they followed after Rothchild, "that is my duty." There was a finality to his tone that allowed no room for argument.

Evie watched him, trying to figure him out before shrugging and looking forward again. "You are a strange one," she mumbled. She couldn't tell if he was being chivalrous or plain stupid. At first she was relieved that she had finally met someone who was in the same 'fish out of water' situation as her but now she was second guessing it. Perhaps it was because Jack came from an era far prior to her own that she couldn't help but feel that this samurai was just as alien as everyone else.

"So, are we walking all the way?" Evie asked as they left the building.

"Don't be silly! We'll take our rocket ship!" Rothchild said.

"Rocket ship?" the word sounded foreign coming out of Jack's mouth.

"Wait! Evelyn! Wait!" They all turned to see Fuzzy running up to them waving his arm about. Jack tensed but Evie stepped forward to meet him halfway. The hairy orange alien was out of breath as he came to a stop. "You… you forgot your salary." He held out a bag full of coins and it wasn't a small bag either.

Evie carefully took the bag and looked inside. It was foreign currency and she had no idea how much it was worth. But by the weight of the bag, it was no small amount. She looked up at Fuzzy and smiled, "thank you, Fuzzy. I'm sorry that I'm leaving without any warning."

"Bah," Fuzzy waved her off. "I knew that you'd quit sooner than later. This place is too rough for a little human girl like you anyway." He turned around and headed back towards his restaurant. "Don't get killed out there!"

"Thanks?" Evie stared back down at her pouch before stuffing it into her rucksack.

"A good ol' chap, that he is," Rothchild smiled fondly after Fuzzy before fixing his tie. "Let's not dawdle any longer, though. We aren't getting anywhere by standing around."

They moved on with Rothchild being the main source of conversation. He went on and on about everything- but mainly about his archeological finds. Angus occasionally piped in with a sarcastic remark while Drifus drooled again. Jack was silent during the entire duration but Evie could tell by the tightness of his mouth and the wrinkles between his brows that he had a lot of questions.

Evie merely nodded and smiled as Rothchild babbled on and on but eventually she began to tune him out. Her eyes instead focused up at the sky and the heavy smog that were as thick as storm clouds. ' _I wonder if it ever rains here… and if so… just how badly does it stain this city?_ '

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The day was an acceptable one in Aku's opinion. He had received several monuments carved in his likeness and he allowed new extraterrestrial beings to live in his waters after he had himself denied them of their planetary source. Aku was being worshipped and feared left and right. Those who were foolish enough to speak against him were instantly sent to the pit of hate to be converted to his ways, no questions asked.

This world was his and his alone. And little by little, Aku was gaining influence across the stars and his name was not unheard of across galaxies. Yet it still was not enough. Becoming the master of the universe was a slow and painful process. It didn't help that there were still corners of HIS earth that were untouched by him. It was something he would eventually remedy, make no mistake about that.

But while today started out like any other day, a certain unexpected visitor to his towering castle was about to bring him news that was about change everything.

A figure shrouded in a black cloak approached Aku and bowed down low before him. "My lord and master," she purred with respect. "I have great news for you."

"What information can be considered great for the immortal Aku?" he challenged with a booming voice.

The figure took off her hood, revealing herself to be Gem. Her smile was sweet but her eyes were dark and malicious- a quality that Aku found to be acceptable in his subjects. "An ancient warrior of great power and skill has revealed himself. He is accompanied by a strange woman and they _both_ have vowed to liberate the canines from your mines."

"What impertinence is this?!" Aku bellowed as Gem bowed down low before him once again. Who could possibly try to attempt to stand against him? HIM? The shogun of sorrow! "Show me the fools!" he turned around and the wall of petrified flames unfurled to reveal an all seeing mirror. Within the mirror he could see three dogs boarding a rocket ship followed by two humans.

The first one was a ethnically white woman with long golden hair and simple garments. Aku frowned. There was absolutely nothing special about her in terms of appearance. She had soft and delicate features as most human women tended to have. Her face was pretty but nothing extraordinary. She was thin but far from malnourished like most humans. Aku snorted as he watched her foot clumsily slip when she climbed a small ladder on her way into the ship. A pair of hands caught her by the waist, protecting her from a fall that would have undoubtedly followed.

Aku watched curiously as the female thanked the human male with a smile and entered the ship. When the man finally turned his face in Aku's direction, the demon was taken aback. His eyes widened in shock and his mouth dropped open in recognition of his ancient foe. It was the Emperor's son. Slowly, a snide smile spread across his green face before he closed the mirror. He threw his head up and laughed. "So fate has arrived. Many years have gone by since that day. And now, my formidable foe, you will pay for my pain in the past with your pain in the future. _**Hahahaha!"**_

The sound of clanging metal legs echoed over Aku's diabolical laughter as hundreds by hundreds of black beetle drones scurried down the walls of his tower, summoned to do his bidding with one instruction programmed in their minds. Kill the samurai and anyone else who stands in their path.

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Jack sat in between Evie and Drifus as Angus started up the engine. He was in awe of the machine and kept looking around. The top of the ship was completely made out of glass, giving them a 360 degree view of their surroundings. Evie snapped her seatbelt in place and noticed that Jack wasn't wearing his. "Here," she reached over his lap to grab his seatbelt. Evie noticed him stiffen up at her sudden proximity but she chose to ignore it. "Safety first," she explained as she snapped it into place. She sat back into her place and smiled warmly at his questioning glance, "you wouldn't want to go flying through the glass in case of an accident, I'm sure."

Jack's shoulders relaxed at her explanation and he returned a tiny smile, "yes. Thank you."

"Brace yourselves," Angus warned.

"Huh?" Jack blinked but that was the only warning they got. The ship gave a sharp jolt and they were sent rocketing into the air with incredible speed that even shocked Evie to the point of gripping her seat and her feet were pressed against the back of Rothchild's seat. Normally an airplane would take a while before finally lifting off, steadily building up its speed -but nope! This rocket ship meant business.

Poor Jack, who wasn't even introduced to the concept of flying machines, was terrified. His hands were knuckle white as he held onto Rothchild's seat for dear life. He was trembling and his eyes were wide like round dishes. Seeing him in such a petrified state made Evie giggle, despite the fact that she was sitting in a comical position herself. Jack looked at her with confusion and she finally began to laugh out loud. "Wowee~!" She cheered as she shot her fists up at the thrill, mainly as a distraction to help Jack calm down. "This is fun!" She sat up more properly and pointed out the glass excitedly to Jack. "Look, look, Jack! Isn't it beautiful?"

Jack blinked at her for a moment before daring to look outside to where she was pointing. Indeed, it was a magnificent sight. They were soaring over the ocean that was gleaming gold in the setting sun. Now that they were out of the city, they could actually see the sky. Jack was dumbfounded that they were already in a different location within a matter of seconds! He heard the sound of a flapping tongue and saw Drifus hanging halfway out an open window on his other side, sending a trail of spit flying behind them. Jack's amazement overcame his fear momentarily though his hands still gripped the back of Rothchild's seat like it was his life. It was all so overwhelming for the samurai.

They passed a forest, then an oil mine, a valley and eventually crossed a desert within a matter of minutes. Evie couldn't help but press her face against the glass as she saw the strangest creatures used for caravans down below. They were used like Indian Elephants for transportation except they looked more like long-necked dinosaurs. "What is this place?" Evie couldn't help but whisper out loud.

Before long they had zoomed towards another city. At first it looked grand and orange in the setting sun but as they moved closer, Evie's wonder turned into concern. The buildings were magnificent in size but they were in ruins. It looked like an aftermath of an atomic explosion. The ground was filled with giant holes that were clearly dug up on purpose. The whole place was in shambles. Evie was starting to understand the peril that this world was suffering from with Aku in power. She had hoped that they would pass through and move on, but Angus stopped the ship and landed it right in the center of the city.

Rothchild, Angus and Drifus all casually walked off the ship. Evie followed after them, though her legs were a bit wobbly from the extreme ride. It was like getting off a rollercoaster. Jack fared the worst. He literally jumped out of the ship and landed on all fours, gripping the earth like it was his only lifeline. He breathed heavily as he pressed his forehead against the dirt and his face was scrunched up.

"Oh dear, sir Jack! Are you ill?" Rothchild inquired with concern.

"I'm fine…" Jack stood up with a grimace and dusted off his hands. He looked like he was struggling not to throw up. "I just prefer walking."

"Oh yes, rocket rides and such. Sorry about that old timer," the blue dachshund didn't sound sorry at all, "but anyway, welcome to our camp!"

Evie smiled and waved at the dogs who were all staring at them, "hello." They didn't reply, just tilted their heads. A few of their tails wagged in response so that had to mean that they weren't against their arrival at least. It was so strange for Evie to see dogs digging with shovels and pickaxes instead of with their paws. A giant six-legged, horse-like creature with compound eyes, similar to a fly's walked past, dragging behind a crate filled with red jewels that were probably just as long as Evie was tall. ' _Is that a… horsefly_?' Evie didn't know if she was amazed by such an obvious crossover or horrified. At least it didn't have wings. A closer inspection made Evie take back her thoughts and wince with sympathy. It **had** wings… but from the stumps, it was evident that they were torn off.

"As you can see," Rothchild continued as he gave them a brief tour around their camp, "our archeological dig had unearthed many outstanding discoveries concerning the history of canine kind but… unfortunately Aku has… shall we say, 'redirected' our efforts purely toward the excavation of his precious gems."

Evie listened as she took in their surroundings. Dogs were operating strange mining machines that were chiseling away at the red gems that were growing out of the ground and even out of the ruined buildings almost like an invasive species. Their beauty looked deadly…

"And if Aku's unreasonable quotas are not fully met, I'm afraid terrible punishments are exacted."

Evie's mouth dropped open in alarm when they came across a sight that not even she could have seen in her worst and darkest nightmares. Dogs had been _crucified_ to tree-like spikes. Evie's legs began to shake and tears began to squeeze out of her eyes. **Dogs** were **crucified.** They were dead- their poor small bodies hanging limply like puppets.

Evie legitimately felt sick to her stomach. How could anyone do this to these sweet animals?! This… this was _unheard_ of! Jack shared her sentiment for his face was twisted in horrified outrage.

Rothchild stopped and turned to the humans in despondent melancholy. "My people's spirits are broken." His voice cracked with emotions and anger began to take over, "we simply cannot live like this any longer!"

Evie bit at her knuckle to keep her feelings in check, but how could she? Her heart bled for these canines. It was one thing hearing about their enslavement, but… now…

She saw a dog with ribs protruding from behind his skin struggling to chip away at the jewels with his pickaxe. His big saggy eyes were heartbreakingly sad. More dogs were barely able to move the baskets filled with the gems, their little legs scrambling in an effort to pull them up a hill. They were tired and starving! Evie jumped back when a small puppy, slowly hauled a basket twice his size past them.

Fury began to rage through Evie's veins. This was wrong… this was so wrong on so many levels of _wrong_. It was inhumane! It took a second for her to remember that Aku wasn't human. He was a demon. And demons were evil by nature.

"We need to stop this…" She said quietly.

Rothchild looked up at Evie hopefully. She had been hesitant with assisting them at first so this change in her lifted his spirits. Perhaps showing this hell to them was the right move on his part.

"I didn't realize that Aku was _this_ repulsive of a monster," Evie spat angrily. "I don't care what it takes, but he is going down!"

"Evie…" Rothchild's eyes began to grow moist and he rushed to hug her around the knees. "I knew that you would come to understand."

"I'm sorry Rothy," Evie kneeled down and hugged him back just as tightly. His tail wagged frantically at his beloved nickname. "I'm sorry." She held her arm to Drifus and Angus as well and they willingly joined in with the hugging.

"I have seen Aku implement these atrocities before." Evie and the dogs looked up at Jack who was clenching his fist. His voice was heavy with grief and ire. "But no more. Even dogs should not be forced to live like dogs!"

…

Jack seemed to have realized the error of his wording for his expression turned awkward and he rubbed at his neck. The uncomfortable moment had Evie and the canines slowly untangle themselves from the hug. "Err...umm…"

"I would have worded that a little differently," Evie stood up with a small smile.

Jack looked away, shame flushing at his cheeks as the dogs glared up at him.

"They're coming!" They jumped at the sudden frightened yelling. One of the dog workers ran up to them, overcome with panic. "They're coming!" He pointed off into the distance. "Aku's drones approach from the south! They will upon us by sunrise!"

Rothchild gasped.

Evie looked up at the sky. The sun had already set behind the horizon, staining the sky a deep crimson red. Like blood.

"Hurry, come quick!" The dog led them up through the wreck of what was once a grand skyscraper. Once they were up on the very top of the building, the worker pointed toward the south. At first Evie couldn't see anything but the distant mountains and clouds. But then she realized that the clouds behind them were not clouds at all. It was dust. Evie knelt down on all fours and leaned forward, her eyes squinting. Something that looked like a black river came trickling down the mountains. "What is that?"

Rothchild pulled out a pair of binoculars and looked out at the darkness. Once he had a good look, he took them off with great concern. "I say, there are quite a few of those Aku destroyer beetle drones."

"May I?" Evie reached out her hand and Rothchild handed his binoculars to her. She laid down on her belly and looked through them. Her eyes widened. They were in fact giant metal beetle drones. Their bodies were pitch black and their eyes were an uncanny light blue. What was more concerning were those mantis like slashers that they had for legs. "Holy… there has to be thousands upon thousands of those things!"

"How are you ever going to be able to defeat them?" Rothchild asked Jack.

Evie gave a weak giggle at their suddenly impossible situation. She looked up at Jack, "you wouldn't happen to have a giant spray can of bug repellent in that sheath of yours, would you?"

But Jack did not look worried like the rest of them did. Instead he had that steely expression of determination. "I will need some weapons."

By the time that they had climbed back down, night had fallen. Jack grabbed a giant roll of drafting paper and ripped off a big piece. He spread it across the ground with four rocks holding down the edges and everyone sat around him and the paper. Evie sat cross legged between Rothchild and Drifus as Jack was trying to think of a plan. He surveyed their area, eying the dogs' machines and equipment. He smirked when an idea came to him and Rothchild offered him a pen with a silly grin on his face.

Jack gratefully took the pen and tried to write something with it only for no ink to come out. Jack stared down at the pen in puzzlement. Oh right, there weren't ballpoint pens during the shogun era. Evie cleared her throat, catching Jack's attention. With her thumb, she mimed the action of pressing the pen's clip. Jack blinked and looked back down at the pen. After a second, he pressed the silver tip and the pen clicked. He looked surprised when the ballpoint tip suddenly appeared at the bottom. Jack analyzed the tip before moving to chart the layout of their soon to be battlefield. Jack's strokes were steady and precise, almost like he was creating a work of art. Evie and the dogs couldn't help but be drawn in. He didn't even need a ruler to make straight lines. That was impressive.

When he finished, Jack smiled and clicked the pen off. He nodded at Evie and she gave him a grin and two thumbs up. The dogs all wagged their tails.

The moon was full therefore it illuminated the layout plan without it needing lamps or torches. Jack had Rothchild and Evie hold the paper up so it was in full view to the rest of the dogs. "Aku's minions have only one way to enter this vicinity and that is through this gorge," Jack motioned towards the canyon drawn onto the paper. "You may not be soldiers but you are engineers and excavationists. That is something that we shall use to our advantage and something that Aku will not expect. We shall make traps to slow down the beetle drones and limit their numbers." Jack spoke with the expertise of a war strategist and Evie began to realize that this man had more prowess than she had expected.

The dogs nodded, determination setting in.

"Um, I do have a question." Evie raised her hand, "traps sound good and all, but there are millions of those drones. What if on the off chance that some of these traps don't work? Or worse, that these beetle drones will be capable of avoiding them? We only have until sunrise to get everything done so there won't be any time to test these things out."

The dogs turned to Jack with worried glances.

"Then I shall be the one to lead them into the traps," Jack answered. "If worst comes to worst…" he place a hand over his sword, "then I shall cut them down with my blade."

Evie's eyes widened. Wait, was this guy actually volunteering to act as a decoy? Not only that, but he would be the only man on the battlefield. Evie was so stunned by this that she could no longer speak.

They all got to work immediately. The dogs started up their engines of their excavator machines and Jack pointed them in the right direction while giving instructions. He had the dogs topple their machines over to Evie's confusion. What was the point of that? But then it was made clear and Evie couldn't help but marvel at the genius of Jack's out of the box thinking. Rocks were placed into the arm buckets of the machines which turned them into custom made catapults.

When that was done, Jack marked the ground with his sword where the trenches should be. Rothchild used his own excavator machine to dig along the line, making a deep and wide trench. More dogs joined in and dug more trenches, each an acre away from each other. After that, Jack had several dogs land their flying ships on top of tall stony structures, for what their purpose was, Evie had no idea but she was to busy helping Angus with barricading a building for their safe fort to really pay much attention. As she was holding wooden planks in place while the Scottish canine was drilling them over the windows, she couldn't help but look back at the poor crucified dogs. It felt wrong for them to be left hanging there.

"Say, Angus? Do you think that maybe we could… take them down?"

"Eh?" Angus stopped his drilling and turned to look at what Evie was talking about. He fell silent.

"It just doesn't feel right leaving them there. They should have a proper burial."

Angus gave a heavy sigh but nodded, "aye, yer right lass. I think they deserve the proper respect. We won't have time for ceremony though." Angus gathered some dogs and they took down their fallen comrades. Since they were all expert diggers, it did not take much time at all for each body to be buried. Evie clasped her hands together as she stood together with the dogs in silent mourning and gave a little prayer, hoping that their souls would find peace and a better afterlife if there was one.

She felt a paw tap her on the side and she looked down at Angus. His furry black mustache raised up in a sad smile and motioned that they should go. Evie nodded and solemnly turned her back to the new graveyard.

When Evie saw Jack again, he was making a custom made bow and arrows. Evie raised her eyebrows when she noticed that the arrows were tipped with red arrowheads made from the jewels that the dogs were mining. She watched from behind as he notched an arrow to the string and pulled it back with almost no effort. The samurai aimed for one of the stone pillars and released the string. The arrow sliced through the air and _cut_ through the stone, shattering it to pieces! If that wasn't impressive enough, the arrow had completely pierced through the next slab of rock with the arrow sticking out from the other end.

Evie's mouth dropped. That was so **cool**! Not only did that require a massive amount of strength, but the jewels must have been unbelievably sharp and sturdy to be able to cut through thick stone! "Wow!" she couldn't help but exclaim.

Jack turned to her in surprise, not realizing that she was watching.

"That was amazing!" Evie jogged up to him with a grin. "I didn't know that you could do archery."

"Uh… thank you." Jack replied with an uncertain smile.

Evie looked at the protruding gems that grew from the side of the cliff and she rubbed her hand against one of the smooth sides. "These jewels have to be really durable. They are practically like diamond!" Suddenly an idea came to her and she looked at Jack, "hey! What if we lined the trenches up with these babies? Those drones won't know what hit them!"

Jack's eyes lit up at the suggestion and he nodded with agreement. "That is a wonderful idea," he patted Evie on the shoulder. "Good work."

Evie turned a little pink at the praise and giggled before Jack rushed to round up some workers. "Aww shucks, it was nothing…"

In no time, the dogs came with their pickaxes and began to chisel away at the gems. Evie helped the dogs carrying the long pieces into the trench while Jack used the shorter pieces to make deadly spears. Evie grinned as she stuck one of the long pieces into the ground, sharp tip up. "You know," she told Drifus, "this actually might work."

"I sure hope so," Drifus replied back with a smile.

After several hours of setting up the pitfall trench trap, Evie climbed out, feeling sore, tired and rather thirsty. She wondered if she could ask someone for water. As she was thinking this, Evie found Jack approaching the horsefly. She gasped when the animal reared up at his approach, ready to trample the samurai to the ground. But Jack merely presented the horsefly with an apple and the aggression ceased. The horsefly bent its neck down and sniffed at the apple. Realizing that it was a declaration of friendship, the animal eagerly ate the apple right out of Jack's hand. Jack smiled when the horsefly lovingly nuzzled his hand and he pet the animal's nose.

Evie was baffled. Master swordsman. Master war strategist. Master archer… and now… master beast tamer? Was there anything that Jack _couldn't_ do aside from working a ballpoint pen?

Jack saw Evie staring and he waved her over. Evie started and looked around before pointing at herself as if asking 'me?' Jack nodded. Evie looked at the giant animal and fear began to pool in her stomach. She had never approached a horse before (much less one that was the size of a dinosaur) but it would seem rather silly to just let Jack stand there waiting for her. Evie cautiously walked over, her hands pressed close to her chest in a withdrawn manner.

The horsefly sensed her approaching and turned its head in her direction, snorting out its nose. Evie squeaked, freezing up in place. She could see her many small reflections staring back at her from the animal's compound eyes. It was freaky. But Jack merely handed her another apple and gently nudged her forward.

Evie stared down at the red apple in her hands and up at the horsefly- whose attention was now solely on the fruit. Hesitantly, and fearing for her hands… Evie stretched the apple out to the horse. The horsefly sniffed at the apple and then with a pleased whinny, ate it- careful of Evie's fingers.

Evie made a small noise and retracted her hands as if burnt. The horsefly made another happy noise and licked Evie's face before nuzzling her.

"He is thanking you," Jack explained to Evie's astounded form.

Evie gave a small giggle and rubbed the horsefly's muzzle. "You are welcome," she replied- her fear of the gentle animal dissipating.

"Now that I have his trust, I can ride him to battle."

Evie looked at Jack as he smiled at the horsefly. He patted the horse's neck as it sniffed Evie, looking for more apples. "You're really serious about this, aren't you?"

"About what?" Jack asked.

"About fighting those drones all by yourself."

Jack's face became serious, "it is the only way."

Evie looked away, feeling nervous for his well being. But there really wasn't nothing she could really say aside from, "just… be careful out there, okay?"

Jack nodded.

Armor was forged for both Jack and the horsefly out of the metal machines while Evie watched Jack draw his clan's insignia on a long white banner with a bamboo pen and ink. Turns out that Jack preferred the old fashioned utensil over a pen. Jack smiled with satisfaction when he finished, though in Evie's honest opinion, it was lacking. But that changed when two dogs, carrying a huge chunk of metal accidentally tread their muddy paws over the banner, leaving a trail of dog prints. Jack stared at the banner, mystified. This however gave Evie an idea. She beamed and dunk her hand in the ink pot, earning her a strange look from the samurai. But she ignored him and pressed her palm in the bottom right corner, leaving her hand print.

"There," she said proudly. "Now when you go to fight, you'll have all of us with you." She smiled toothily at Jack. "This way, you won't be alone."

Jack was stunned for a moment, but a touched smile soon spread across his face.

"Thank you."

* * *

 **A/N:** _Thank you so much for the wait guys! Aside from this, I am mainly focusing on my 'Gone Batty' fic, so this story isn't exactly my priority. But that doesn't mean that I'm not having fun writing this story! I am greatly enjoying it! It's really interesting getting to know Evie while writing this because her personality starts to really come to light. She is very timid and doesn't want to get involved in any trouble so she avoids it and encourages others to avoid it too. But she also has a very caring heart and a sunny disposition. She naturally wants to make friends and make others smile. I am extremely excited to develop her more as she grows as a person. An Aku-infested world WILL change a person be it for better or for worse, especially someone who is as peaceful and inexperienced as Evie._

 _Oh and no, Evie has not yet made the connection that Jack IS the samurai from the legend. She has yet to entirely accept that the story she has heard is true._

 _I am glad so many of you are enjoying this story! I'll see you in the next chapter!_


	4. The Beetle Drones

**Chapter 4:** Beetle Drones

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" _I'm a one man army. The world could go against me and I will still come out on top."_

 _ **Floyd Mayweather**_

* * *

The dawn broke faster than anyone would have liked. Evie was jittering nervously while Jack groomed the horsefly. She constantly looked up at the sky, the clouds were tinged orange. She was so nervous that she could barely stomach the flavorless gruel that was offered to her. Evie couldn't understand how Jack could so calmly eat his breakfast and then get suited into his battle armor like it was an everyday occurrence for him. Wasn't he scared?

She watched him silently as she pulled her knees tighter to her chest. She wasn't the one going to battle yet she had lost count of how many times she had rubbed her sweaty palms against her jeans.

"The destroyer drones have entered the valley!" the lookout dog shouted down to them. "Everyone take cover!"

Evie jumped to her feet as the dogs began to run about in a panic. Jack mounted his steed and without a moment's hesitation- galloped away to face the danger head on.

"Evelyn, this way!" Rothchild waved to her through the mass of dogs. "We must get to a shelter!"

Evie followed after the pack into one of the sturdier looking buildings. Rothchild led her by the hand as they ran up many flights of stairs. They soon entered a large room where Drifus and Angus were waiting for them with grim expressions.

"Are you sure that this is safe?" Evie asked as they approached. "If the beetle drones manage to get past Jack, we'll end up being trapped inside here. We'll have no way out."

"This is the safest it's gonna get," Angus replied as he bit his pipe. "Unless you know of a safer place?"

A tremor ran through Evie and she sat down by an open window. "We should have ran. Rather than setting up all those traps that may or may not work- we should have ran. We should probably run now."

"They would catch us," Drifus patted her arm. "Don't worry, Jack knows what he is doing and we will stay to support him. Right guys?"

Rothchild and Agnus agreed in a chorus despite not looking certain at all.

Evie whimpered and hid her face in her arms. Whatever bravado that she had felt earlier had vanished. Her anger towards Aku's wrongdoings withered as fear ate away at it. It was easy to imagine things going right but it was even easier to imagine things going horribly wrong. She did not want to watch Jack get torn asunder. There was simply no way that this was going to work. After imagining a dozen ways on how this plan could go to hell, Evie began to seriously consider booking it. Perhaps she could make the excuse that she needed to use the restroom or something. It was the cowardly thing to do but Evie wasn't brave. She never had been. As much as she hated to admit it, running away from her problems was her way of solving them.

A loud explosion from outside shocked Evie out from her traitorous thoughts.

Jumping to her feet, the young woman looked out of the window and towards the trenches half expecting to see the samurai's body in pieces. But to her immense surprise, it wasn't Jack who was getting caught up in the explosions, it was the beetle drones. Several of them were already in pieces and in flames.

Evie watched as Jack expertly pulled back his bowstring and fired from his mount. The arrowhead grazed the stone wick that was sticking out of a barrel, causing it to spark. Seconds later the barrels blew up, taking out dozens of drones with them. Evie's mouth dropped open and she leaned forward. Jack had fired from an incredible distance and yet he managed to light a wick? Then he grabbed four arrows and shot them through the blazing inferno. Each arrow hit it's respected drone in the head, taking them out.

It didn't stop there. Jack's steed rammed into the drone's headfirst while the warrior speared away the monsters, sometimes several at once in midair. Once the spears were used up- the sword slid out of its sheath.

The drones started to take Jack more seriously then. They got up on their hindlegs rather than crawling on all six and charged at him. It shouldn't have been possible but Jack's sword cut through their metal shells like butter.

Evie leaned further and further out the window and only came to her senses when she felt paws grab her by the shirt and pull her back.

"Watch what yer doin'! Do you wanna get yerself killed?" Agnus scolded.

"Sorry, I just…" Evie trailed off for her attention was drawn back to Jack's impressive fighting skills. One after the other, Jack sliced the monsters while the horsefly stomped and kicked. But then one drone got a little too clever and leapt at Jack from the side. Evie gasped and gripped the window sill tightly with her hands when Jack was thrown from his saddle. The drone smashed Jack beneath its body against the ground. The flag lay broken on the dirt and the drones walked over it, tearing Jack's insignia, the canine paw prints and her own hand print. The horsefly ran away with a whiny, useless without its rider.

Fear and dread shook Evie to the core. Was Jack dead? Was this it? The drones circled around the victorious drone, reveling in the kill. Seconds felt like hours and even Rothchild, Agnus and Drifus held their breaths. But then a sword tip struck through the drone and it was thrown off with a clatter, startling the drones. Jack stood there, steady on his own two feet. Evie couldn't help but let out a happy cry and clapped her hands in joy. He was alive!

"I say, there ought to be stories about such a warrior!" Rothchild exclaimed at Jack's perseverance. "A man of legend! Take note, Drifus ol' boy. If we live through this terrifying moment in history, we should spread the tale of his heroic deed!"

Evie paused in her cheering. Jack? A legend?

Jack blocked each and every swing and hit that the beetles threw at him. Jack cut them open in return- causing them to explode. More and more drones went after him and bit by bit they landed hits that Jack couldn't avoid. His armor was chipped away until it was ultimately broken off. Jack grimaced and dodged another swing that would have proven fatal if he had waited a second longer. Jack skidded back a few steps before holding his ground and holding the sword in front of him.

Jack and the robots stared each other down, both sides assessing each other. Both were searching for weaknesses… an opening. Jack eyed his broken armor on the ground and frowned. Without his armor he couldn't exactly charge in headfirst without obtaining serious damage to himself. He was going to have to switch to defence.

So he ran- slashing and hacking through the drones to clear a path for himself. He catapulted himself over one of the monsters and through the fire, landing on the other side. It was time for the next part of the plan and Jack was certain that he would be followed. And like he predicted, the drones emerged from the flames after him, dead set on killing.

Skidding through the gorge, Jack hid behind one of the traps that he and the dogs had laid out for the drones. He waited patiently for them to saunter past. As they did, Jack strained to push one of the unstable stone beams off kilter. The beam gave way and collided with more rocks on the way down, causing a giant rock slide. The first troop of unlucky drones were crushed like bugs.

Evie watched as Jack triggered one trap after another. Contrary to her worries, they all worked just as planned. The rockets did their job in blasting the drones away with their launch fire. However, there were still too many of them and it wasn't enough. She watched in trepidation as Jack continued to run, leading them closer to the next trap… and ultimately closer to them. Her hands shook and she clutched them into fists. This was all a big gamble. In the end, it all came down to the amount of drones that the traps could take out.

"What if there's too many?" she asked fearfully. "What if it's not enough?"

"Then we're doomed," Agnus replied bluntly.

"Now, now…let's all keep an open mind here," Rothchild tried to calm the tension that he saw rise in everyone. "Let's have a little faith in our good friend Jack. He isn't quite done yet. Look, he's leading them towards the trenches! That should put a stop to those wicked vermin!"

Evie turned her attention back to the frightening scene below. With one strong kick of his legs, Jack leapt over the wide trench that was filled with spears and landed on the other side. He stopped and waited to see what the drones would do. Would they stop? Would they try to go around or -?

The beetle drones blindly ran into the final trap, impaling themselves into the long jeweled spears. One after the other they just kept running into it. Layer upon layer they shiskabobbed each other and themselves. They didn't stop. More and more fell into the trap until the trench was filled to the brim with robot corpses. When there was no more trap to fall into, the remaining drones merely crawled across the bodies of their siblings.

Jack peered over his shoulder at the city ruins where Evie and the dogs were hiding. He saw her watching worriedly from one of the windows- her golden hair easily distinguishable amongst the dark rubble. They were close. Too close to the danger. The trench was the last trap and Jack had no more tricks up his sleeve. He was the only one left who was standing between the ruins and the killer beetles. Whether these beetles reached the city or not all depended solely on him now. Clenching his jaw, Jack pulled out his sword from its sheath and tensed up.

Instead of charging him directly, the drones began to circle around Jack. He stood motionless in a crouched position, his eyes darting back and forth around him. They ran around him for a good minute before they stopped and stood _very_ still.

"What are they doing?" Evie wondered, "they're not attacking?"

"It looks like they are finally being cautious," Rothchild assumed as he peered over the window sill. "There are only approximately forty of them left. With their numbers so greatly diminished, they must be trying to calculate the best method of attack."

A heavy silence weighed down upon them all as they waited to see who would make the first move. Seconds ticked by and no one dared to even breathe. Evie's hands trembled as they tightened around the window sill. This was it. The final match.

Slowly… _so_ slowly as to not trigger the drones, Jack shifted his sword so he held it straight out behind his back. His arm muscles tightened like a band, ready to swing.

The beetle drones attacked. They moved in swiftly all at once from all around. Jack moved. He parried and swung- cutting off a limb. Then he dodged another incoming drone and sliced it in half horizontally. One after another, he slashed and deflected attacks, not missing a beat. But the drones were getting clever and began to attack in unison rather than one after the other. Noticing the change in strategy, Jack was forced to move more defensively. He blocked and rolled out of the way. Jack repelled one of the beetle's slashes but another one came at him from behind.

Jack's eyes widened as he felt something sharp cut across his back, tearing through his gi. He cried out. Momentarily distracted from the pain, the drones landed a few more hits and Jack fell to the ground.

"JACK!" Evie yelled from her spot without thinking. Her cry caught the attention of the beetle drones and they turned their bodies in her direction.

"Oh yeah, great. Draw their attention. I'm sure that would mean good things for us." The sarcasm practically oozed from Agnus as he crossed his arms.

"Oh dear…" Rothchild muttered.

Evie paled and she took a step back from the window. ' _Oops…'_ The drones slowly began to inch towards them now.

 _SLASH!_

A drone was sliced open. Where it once stood was Jack, shirtless, bleeding and **angry**. "Your fight… is with me!" He ran at the beetles; their attention returned back to him. He cut through them individually and blocked their attacks. Something had changed in Jack. He was no longer moving with cool calculated precision. His attacks became more heated, his swings were heavier and far more focused on the offense rather than defense.

Evie winced when a drone landed more hits on Jack and the battle below them began to go haywire. Jack let out a furious scream and leapt over the robots, his sword over his head. He cut through a beetle in such a manner that it bust open the oil pipes inside. Oil splattered all over the place, on the ground, on the beetles and on Jack. He didn't stop there. Jack slashed away and the oil flew into the air as he destroyed more of the beetle drones.

Standing there in shocked silence, Evie felt frightened. Not of the beetles… but of Jack. His eyes had become wild with rage and adrenaline. And with the way he was covered in black oil from head to toe, he looked more like a demon rather than human. He stood there in the middle of the carnage of his enemies. The oil dripped off his sword like dark blood. Was this seriously the same quiet and collected man that got her to feed an apple to a horsefly?

Apparently, Evie wasn't the only one who felt that way. The remaining few drones backed away nervously.

Jack's eyes narrowed. "No. There is no escape," he growled.

Evie and the dogs watched with morbid fascination as Jack decimated the rest. The drones didn't have time to react, unable to defend themselves from his fury. One after the other, the metallic bodies hit the floor.

And just like that… it was over.

All was quiet as Jack grabbed the torn banner from the ground and began to climb the mountain of drone corpses. With a sharp jab, he stuck the banner pole into the drones, declaring his victory for all to see.

That was when the dogs began to cheer. The noise startled Evie out of her stupor and she looked around. Drifus and Angus were hugging each other with delight. The Scottish terrier didn't even care that he was getting drooled on. Evie blinked as she looked around. Jack… had won. He actually did it. He saved them all!

"Oh boy! Jolly good show!" Rothchild exclaimed as he fistpumped the air. "I knew that he could do it! Didn't I say that Jack was the one?" He elbowed Evie lightly in the hip, "and you had your doubts about him."

Evie cracked a tiny smile. "Yeah, you were right all along."

Rothchild gave a whoop as he turned to go and congratulate the samurai. "Perhaps he even has what it takes to defeat Aku himself! Oh what a happy day! This is a tale that shall be told to my children and then their children… and then THEIR children… and their children's children and grandchildren-" his voice faded in the stairway while he was followed by the cheering dogs.

Evie turned to look at the lone samurai who stood there as realization began to seep in. The story that her grandfather used to tell her as a child… the one about the emperor's son and the great demon Aku was… _real_. Evie covered her mouth as she gasped. Jack was the emperor's son. Jack was THE legendary samurai. But if that was the case… then Jack would eventually find the portal that would send him back to his time.

"Are you alright, Evie?" Drifus asked.

She shook her head and smiled at him, this time genuinely. "I'm okay now. Everything is going to be okay." That was right! Hope flared up in Evie's heart. If Jack would find a portal back home...then maybe if she stuck with him…

"Where are ye goin' lass?" Angus called to her as she ran out of the room.

"Home!" Evie called back joyfully and she raced down the stairs. Excitement bubbled in her veins. She would ask him to take her with him! She could finally go back home to her family! She had no idea how it would work out and when, but if the story was anything to go off of- it was that it WILL happen!

As Evie ran outside, Rothchild was already there with Jack- talking up a storm.

"Now that was smashing! A real bang up job! Ooh-hoo-hoo! Oo-hoo-hoo-hoo!"

Jack opened his eyes to look down at the canine and Rothchild immediately hushed, intimidated by the man. He cleared his throat and tried again, this time more calmly. "Good sir, Jack. T'was a truly noble deed you have done today and a historic victory most worthy of our logs. You have saved our pack from the wrath of Aku's drones. We are forever indebted to you."

The dogs all took off their hats in respect.

"Thanks are not necessary," Jack said. "It is my duty to oppose the minions of Aku and my mission to vanquish the very demon himself."

Rothchild beamed, "well then! Now that we have a chance at freedom, we shall take our leave of these forsaken mines. Our pack shall continue our once nomadic life searching for more answers to our puzzling history."

Jack offered his hand to the blue canine, "I wish you the best."

"I certainly would invite you to join us," the dog offered in return as he shook Jack's hand.

"No, I cannot," Jack firmly refused. "Aku's wrongs _must_ be righted. Surely there is a way to reverse his spell." He began to walk down the hill of drone bodies. "I will find a way back to my own time. There I shall finish what I started centuries ago and defeat Aku's evil before it was ever truly unleashed."

"Take me with you?"

Jack stopped, his eyes widening in surprise. All eyes turned to Evie who stood awkwardly to the side. She shifted from one foot to another nervously. After Jack's fierce speech, she couldn't help but feel intimidated once again. Her eyes darted back and forth from Jack to her feet.

"Please? I promise that I won't get in the way."

Jack frowned, "No."

"But-"

"This quest that I am on is perilous. It is no place for a young woman such as yourself."

Evie's lips tightened. She was afraid of this. He wasn't going to let her come along. But she wasn't about to give up here. Not now. This was her only chance and she would be damned if she did not latch onto it. "This _world_ is dangerous, Jack. I don't think it will matter where I go or what I do. As long as Aku is in power, I am always going to be in danger. I can't even get a job without having someone attempting to cut my head off. Creatures in this world… they _hate_ humans."

Evie neared Jack, her eyes beseeching him to listen. "You're looking for a portal to return home. So am I."

Jack's eyes softened with pained understanding. He had forgotten that Evie was stuck in this hell too.

"I… I know that I can't do much to help. I can't fight nor am I familiar with this world," Evie's voice began to shake, "so I can't offer you knowledge." Tears began to prick the corner of her eyes. Oh god, what if he still said no? What would she do? Would she be stuck here forever? "But I promise that I'll do my best in whatever I can… and… and…."

"Very well."

"Huh?" Evie's head perked up.

Jack sighed and tried to rub the oil from his eyes, smudging it more across his face. He couldn't refuse Evie, not with this. If anyone understood her own dilemma, it was him. Besides, perhaps it would be safer for her to stick with him. If he was to refuse her request, then chances were that she would still go out on her own and try to find a portal herself. Jack could not, with a clean conscience, let that happen. He gave her a small smile, his eyes gentle and kind. "We'll find a portal together."

Evie let out a small breath of air from her lungs. The soft spoken man that she knew from the beginning was back. A smile spread across her face and her eyes glistened happily. "Okay."

Jack offered her his hand to shake and Evie was about to take it before she paused and giggled. Jack blinked and tilted his head in confusion.

"You- uh… might want to take a bath first."

Jack looked down at his stained hand and then at himself. He had forgotten about that.

"You can use our main washroom!" Rothchlid offered and began to push Jack towards one of the buildings. "It's the least we can offer you for your generosity."

Evie smiled and waved until they disappeared inside. She sighed and was about to go find Drifus and Agnus when something white caught her eye. "Hmm?" Evie walked around the heap of droids until she saw the top of Jack's gi laying there, all torn and dirty. She leaned down and picked it up. ' _Somehow… I don't think that he has a second pair of clothes_ ,' Evie thought to herself. And she doubted that the dogs had any clothes to spare, much less Jack's size.

An idea popped into her head and Evie hummed happily. She tucked the gi into her arms and ran towards the building. ' _I might not be of much use but I can at least do this much!'_ She saw Rothchild emerging from inside and hanging the rest of Jack's clothes onto a rope and trying to dust it off. Jack was probably inside cleaning himself.

"Rothy, can I take that for a moment?" Evie asked.

"Whatever for?"

Evie pulled the bottom half of the gi off the hanger and tucked it over her shoulder. "I'm going to fix it up for Jack. Do you have another sink somewhere or a tub?"

"Will this do?"

Evie looked over her shoulder to see Drifus pulling a plastic blue tub (something one would use for a dog bath) over to her. Angus held a water hose and began to fill it up. Evie beamed, "yes! That is perfect! Thank you!"

Without wasting any time, Evie rolled up her sleeves and began to vigorously scrub Jack's clothes. Rothchild even managed to fetch her some soap. Evie scrubbed and scrubbed, her brows furrowed with determined concentration. Oil was a nasty substance to get rid of, especially when the fabric was white. But it wasn't an impossible task. It just required a lot of strength and patience. Evie scrubbed and washed and rinsed until her hands were raw. She hung up the two halves of the clean gi onto the rope.

' _If only I had a drying machine…'_ Evie thought in dismay. ' _This will take forever to dry.'_

As if knowing what she needed, Drifus randomly popped up next to her while holding a wireless hair dryer. Where he got one from, she had no idea. Evie gladly thanked him and began to dry the clothes with the hot air- and in no time, they were dry.

Reaching into her bag, Evie pulled out a needle and thread from her small kit box. She secretly thanked her mother for insisting that she carried one around, even though she had never once used it before this day. ' _The things we take for granted…'_ she thought to herself and began to sew Jack's clothes back together.

She wasn't good at it. No. It took a couple of tries before Evie managed to figure out a trick to get the fabric from ripping again. When she was done, Evie hung Jack's clothes back onto the rope and she took a few steps to admire her work. One could easily tell that an amateur had sewn it back together for there were pieces of thread randomly sticking out in some places... but it got the job done.

Jack emerged from the building while Evie was hanging it back up and his eyes widened in amazement. "Is that…?"

Evie turned around and her cheeks flushed red. Jack was decently covered with a towel from the waist down, but that did not divert from the attention on the rest of him. His long hair was down, wet but clean. While Evie had seen him shirtless before, the black oil had covered most of him. Now there was nothing to hide his _very_ physically fit body. He was lean but muscular- a body that the ancient Greeks would envy. He was handsome… for lack of a better word.

As Jack approached his clothes, she quickly averted her eyes and backed away. He touched his gi and examined it. There was not a splatter of oil or dirt anywhere. It was as clean as it had been when he had first put it on. He gently traced the stitches that were quite visible and his eyes met with Evie's, silently asking if she was the one who did this.

Evie reddened a bit more.

His eyes traveled down to her hands and he took note that they were red and marked with needle pricks.

"I know it's not really good," Evie muttered nervously, turning her head away, "but I figured that I could do at least this much for you. I don't have much experience with needlepoint...but…"

Jack wordlessly grabbed his robe and slipped it on, to Evie's surprise. With a smile, Jack secured it around himself and the towel lay abandoned at his feet. Fully dressed again, Jack walked over to Evie and bowed slightly at the waist. "Thank you."

"Ah! You're welcome!" Evie sputtered and also bowed down to him, her face still burning. She paused… wait… why was she bowing again? There was no point for _her_ to bow now. Gah! _How does one Japanese correctly?!_

Jack didn't seem to notice when he straightened back up, but Evie had a feeling that he willingly ignored her error for her sake and for that, she was grateful.

Jack blinked when Evie held out her hand to him. She beamed, her cheeks still a little pink. "I hope that we can be friends, Jack."

Jack returned the smile and shook her hand, his grip firm but noticeably gentle. "I would like that, Evelyn."

"Please, call me Evie!"

"Evie."

* * *

Aku was displeased. He had been watching the entirety of the fight and his drones had failed and Jack had succeeded in taking them all out. "Bah!" he scowled, "he is stronger than I remember…but no matter. For you see little samurai, the world is _mine_!"

An evil smirk spread across his mouth as he opened his spying window- and watched as Jack and Evie left the canines, waving goodbye to them with smiles on their faces, "My eyes and ears are everywhere. Nothing you do will go unseen. Quest as you may and _befriend_ all those who you wish, it matters not to me. We will meet again when I see fit. The time and place of my choosing- and it is _**I**_ who shall put an end to the war started in that age long past, samurai Jack!"

Aku threw up his head and laughed evilly.

* * *

 _ **A/N**_ _: So sorry for the long wait. I had hit a writing block for this chapter- simply for the reason because it was just about Jack fighting the drones and copying/pasting the episode. I couldn't do much with Evie because she can't do much yet except stand back and watch as Jack takes care of the bad guys. So you have no idea how I happy I was when I finally managed to work around it...having something so simple as Evie yelling his name and have that work to Jack's advantage._

 _I can't wait to develop Evie as a character. Right now she's very self-conscious and skittish. She barely knows what to do with herself and how to behave. One moment she would be happy and bouncy, and the next… she'll be hiding in her shell. It will take a while for her grow into a self-assured woman who can kick butt, but I promise you, it will be worth the wait._

 _I'll see you all in the next chapter!_


	5. The Woolies

**Chapter 5: The Woolies**

* * *

" _Those who deny freedom to others, deserve it not for themselves"_

 **Abraham Lincoln**

* * *

A couple of days had passed since Jack had fought the beetle drones and won. Both Evie and Jack had said goodbye to Rothchild, Angus and Drifus before starting their long and unforgiving journey to find a way back home. They had crossed the empty terrain without a clue on where they were going or _where_ they should go. It was far more preferable than being stuck at the pub, in Evie's opinion. At least this way, she felt safer and more secure- considering that Jack was not only a skilled fighter, but a human like herself who sought the same goal of finding a way back home.

Striking a conversation with Jack wasn't as easy as Evie had hoped. She asked about his injuries, which he brushed off as 'not serious'. She made a comment about the weather to which he politely agreed on her opinion of it. And most questions that she had asked him ended with simple "yes" or "no" answers. Evie didn't blame Jack for it. He wasn't a talker and neither was she, so small talk was an instant failure. Evie had always considered herself to be more of a listener and Jack seemed to be lost in his own thoughts. Perhaps he was thinking of a way to defeat Aku. In any case, the silence was making Evie ansty.

And if that wasn't uncomfortable enough, Evie found herself slowing Jack down. Every so often, she'd get a side stitch or her legs would hurt and she'd have no choice but to ask Jack if they could stop for a break. Being the gentleman that he was, Jack always conceded without a fuss. He never once gave the hint that these stops were hindering him, but Evie was most certain that he was just being nice. When they did take a break, Jack usually ended up scouting ahead while Evie caught her breath and massaged her legs.

It appeared as if Jack could have easily gone for hours without taking a single break because he never once looked winded. Evie supposed that the reason why he was being so kind to her was because they had not been able to find a place to eat or sleep. The barren wasteland had stretched for miles and they could do little with surviving off a few vegetables and a single pocky pack. Evie fished out a water bottle from her rucksack and swished it around. There was less than half left. They would have to find some water soon. Evie took a few sips before sealing the cap. It wasn't fair for her to hog it all, so when she saw Jack return- she offered it to him.

Jack glanced down at the water bottle and handed it back to her without opening it.

"What? Aren't you thirsty?" Evie protested. "We've been walking for hours."

"That water is yours. You need it more than I do," Jack replied. "Besides, we can find some food and water there," he pointed to the distant trees behind the cliffside. By the looks of the grand density of it, Evie concluded that it was probably a jungle. "If we leave now, we should make it before nightfall."

"Oh, good!" Evie nodded eagerly, perking up. "I'm starving!" Her stomach growled in agreement and Evie flushed pink. She gave a slight chuckle, avoiding Jack's eyes. "We should probably get going then," she stood up and stuffed her water bottle back into her pack.

Inside the jungle, Jack found a river- allowing Evie to refill her water bottle. Jack used his hands to scoop up the water and drink. Evie looked up at the trees above them and smiled. She could hear the birds chirping and the leaves rustling. This was so much better than the smog-stricken city and the dusty ruins of the dog mines. She took a deep breath and let it out. She spread out her arms and spun in place. "The air is so clean here! I guess there are some places that Aku hasn't even touched."

While looking around, Evie spotted a berry bush and she jogged over to it. She plucked a few and grinned. Finally! Something to eat! She was about to pop the berries into her mouth when a hand smacked them away. Evie looked up at Jack with an offended expression, "Hey… what gives?"

"Those are pokeweed berries. They are poisonous."

Evie sucked the air sharply into her lungs, ran to the river and quickly began to wash her hands, trying to get rid of any berry residue off, "Ugh!"

Jack sighed, realizing that Evie was going to be higher maintenance than he had expected. "Just… don't eat anything that you do not recognize."

Evie sat back in a cross legged position and stared at her reflection in the water. The reflection's dark eyes stared right back, a disappointed look on its face as if saying, ' _You should have known better.'_ Evie's gut twisted uncomfortably. If Jack wasn't with her at this moment, what would have happened to her? Would she have started vomiting and foaming at the mouth? Would she have gotten a seizure? Would she have died? "And it would have served you right. Where is your common sense? Even a child wouldn't have done what you did," she muttered to herself.

The sound of snapping and cutting broke Evie out of her self-deprecating state. Looking over her shoulder, Evie saw Jack cutting the vines off the trees. Not understanding what he was doing, Evie silently watched as the samurai trimmed off the leaves and evened the vines out so they were tightly pressed against one another. Then with a shake of the wrist, the vines began to wind themselves around each other until they formed a sturdy looking rope. When that was done, Jack began to make a noose at the end of the rope.

"What are you doing?" Evie asked.

"I am making a trap. If everything goes well then we shall have dinner tonight."

Evie nodded dumbly. Hunting. Jack was hunting. The idea felt so strange to her, archaic even. But it made sense. It wasn't like they would come across a grocery store in the middle of the jungle, even if secretly she wished it.

Jack placed the trap rope onto the ground and covered it with leaves. Then he placed a carrot in the center- one of the last few provisions that they had thanks to the generosity of Rothchild. He ran into the bushes while holding the other end of the rope. Evie quickly followed and crouched next to him. And so they waited… and waited… and waited…

Time passed slowly and Evie quickly began to get bored. She tried to entertain herself by drawing in the dirt with a stick. Half an hour later and losing the seventh tic tac to game with herself _(how she manages that, we will never know)_ , Evie sighed. "Is hunting always this long and tedious?"

Jack shushed her- his posture suddenly becoming tense with anticipation.

Evie straightened up and peeked through the bushes. A large boar with rather impressive tusks came trudging across the clearing, its snout twitching and snorting. Catching sight of the carrot, the animal cautiously approached the trap. It was completely unaware of the two humans watching it. Jack's hand tightened on the rope as the boar took another step closer. Evie chewed her bottom lip, knowing that the timing had to be just right before Jack could spring the trap. She was surprised to realize that she didn't feel as sorry for the animal as she probably would have normally been. The thought of deliciously cooked pork chops overruled any sense of compassion for the sake of necessity.

Another step…

Both Jack and Evie found themselves salivating. They could almost smell the meat sizzling.

But then the jungle shook with a deafening roar. Evie gasped in fright, covering her ears. Their potential dinner jumped away from the trap and ran away squealing. "What the heck is that?!" Evie exclaimed.

The ground shook with impending large footsteps. Jack and Evie turned around to see a giant mammoth-like creature burst through the trees. The two of them scrambled out of its path before it could trample them to death. Following the creature were two more 'mammoth' things with little men riding them. The lead 'mammoth' crushed the carrot bait and accidentally snagged the rope onto its leg. Jack and Evie looked down at their rope to see that Jack's foot was tangled up in it. Before either of them could react accordingly, the rope tightened around his ankle and Jack was swept off his feet.

"Jack!" Evie yelled as he disappeared through the bushes and was dragged away. She scrambled after them, running as fast as she could.

Jack cringed as his back grated against the ground. He felt each and every rock and root as he passed over them. Grinding his teeth together, Jack grabbed the rope that was tied around his foot and loosened it. Then he repositioned himself so that he was dragged along his front instead. Jack dodged a few rocks and fruit but was incapable of avoiding a thick branch.

Jack winced at the pain in his jaw and glared at the creature. Using his upper body strength, Jack pulled himself along the rope until he reached the giant animal. Then he hauled himself upwards by the fur until he was sitting atop it. Still holding onto the rope, Jack lassoed the beast- bucking its front legs out from beneath it.

The 'mammoth' whined pathetically as it skidded towards the edge of a cliff. Luckily for both the creature and Jack, they managed to stop before reaching it. Jack jumped off the animal and secured it just as the little men jumped off their mounts and ran towards it. Jack was shocked when they began to prod the creature with their harpoons, using an electrical current to subdue it. Over and over they struck it. Finally, the creature groaned in defeat and collapsed.

"Jack!"

The samurai turned around to see Evie stumbling over to him, at last having caught up to them. She was breathing heavily and flushed from sprinting so hard. She looked like she was about to collapse. Her bangs were damp from sweat.

"Evie, are you alright?" Jack approached her with concern.

Evie looked at Jack like he was crazy. " _Me_? I should… be asking… YOU that…" she managed to wheeze. " _You're_ … *gasp* the one who was *wheeze*… dragged… across the *gasp*… jungle! Ugh..."

Jack caught her by the shoulders as she practically fell into him, face first into this chest. She muttered a few words into his gi, too muffled to be understood. Jack didn't know what to do, so he just stood there, letting Evie use him as support as she regained her breath.

The little men in white suits approached them with smirks on their face. "Nice job with the beast," the lead one with orange shades addressed Jack.

"I guess…" another one added with less enthusiasm. He had the exact same nasally voice.

"We would have caught him anyway with our modified tridental incapacitators," the third one snarked proudly, again… with the same voice. If Evie wasn't watching them from the corner of her eye, she would have assumed that it was only one person speaking.

Evie pulled away from Jack and stared down curiously at the little men. They were very strange looking with blue skin and drooping mouths that reminded her of a vacuum hose. What really was odd was that they all looked identical. Were they brothers?

"Whatever," the leader rolled his eyes. He pointed at the 'mammoth' creature and yelled, "Secure the beast!" His subordinates shot beams of light at the animal from their weapons. The light turned into shackles that bound around the animal's legs. "This beast is always trying to escape. Your days are numbered, wild one," he scoffed at the 'mammoth.' "Thanks to this brave warrior, you'll never escape again."

Evie looked up at the creature and felt a sliver of pity for it. It just looked so… _sad_.

"We must celebrate its capture! Come back to our village with us," the small man invited Jack. "Your boyfriend can come too."

Evie's mouth fell open in astonishment. Did she hear him correctly? "What? No… I'm a girl," came her weak reply. In what manner, shape or form did she resemble a guy?!

"Oh, sorry." The little man did not sound sorry at all. "You humans all look the same. Really, how _do_ you tell yourselves apart?"

Jack and Evie shared a look.

"Well uh… I don't know if, uh…we should..." Jack tried to think of a way to refuse the invitation without offending anyone.

"You should!" the second one insisted.

"There will be a feast," the third one tried. "With rare delectables."

Jack and Evie's stomachs both growled in unison at the mention of food. Evie covered her stomach with embarrassment and peeked over at Jack from the corner of her eye.

Jack glanced down at her and saw her pleading expression. He pressed a hand over his own empty stomach. He could not turn away the offer of a free meal, especially now that he had a mouth other than his own to feed. "Well, we haven't eaten in days," Jack admitted. "I suppose no harm could come of it."

"Yes!" Evie leapt into the air, pumping her fist into the air. "Food!"

The small blue men smirked at each other. Now that _that_ was settled, they offered them a ride on their mounts. Jack sat behind the leader and Evie sat behind Jack, clutching at his fabric. They had no saddle and even though the creatures moved steadily, Evie still didn't want to risk falling and breaking her back.

"Our people have dwelled in this land for many decades," the leader spoke to them monotonously. "Much of it was barren wasteland when the first settlers arrived. Our ancestors worked long and hard for many seasons to cultivate it into the beautiful place it is now. These _woolies_ as we call them, used to roam the land, wild. These bloodthirsty creatures threatened the survival of our early settlers."

"Nearly driving us to extinction!" the little man behind them added with a sneer.

Evie shivered. They all had the same voice and it was creeping her out.

"Anyway," continued the leader, as if he hadn't just been interrupted. "With our great courage and determination, we managed to tame these savage beasts. It took many years. Now they are docile and cooperative, helping us with our everyday duties. And in turn, we provide them with the shelter and safety of our village."

Evie patted the woolie beneath her, marveling in its soft fur. "They hardly look bloodthirsty to me," she commented. "I think they are adorable."

"Don't let their meek appearance fool you," the leader looked back at her. "They might look cute and cuddly, but they will kill you the second you let down your guard."

Evie retracted her hand quickly and she stared at the leader with confusion. "But I thought you said that they are docile and cooperative now?"

"As much as wild beasts are capable of being. Have you tried taming lions, tigers or bears? They will maul you if they get the chance. These beasts are no different."

"Oh my…" Evie looked back at the captured woolie behind them. His eyes were sad and hopeless and his head hung low. Was he really as dangerous as these little blue men claimed?

"Well, here we are," the leader announced and Evie peered over Jack's shoulder. "Pretty impressive huh?"

What stood before them was a village that certainly would have been impressive… if it didn't look like it was falling apart. The towering marble domes were dull with age and neglect. Some of the rooftops were cracked and broken. Nature was already in the process of swallowing the village. Vines and trees were growing around and out of structures.

"If you say so…" Evie muttered.

Jack didn't say anything at first but the expression on his face indicated that he wasn't entirely sure of the state of the village either. This looked more like a historical ruin than anything that could be used as a residence. "These buildings look… quite old," he mentioned carefully as if not to rouse conflict.

But the little blue man did not take offense. In fact, he seemed quite proud of the fact that his village was falling apart. "Thank you."

Evie saw several woolies working on the field, some hauling heavy wagons while others walked in circles, turning a wooden wheel. All of them looked absolutely miserable. She flinched as she saw one being zapped with a harpoon, forced to pull a bunch of logs up a hill. The rest of the population, Evie noted… all looked exactly the same. Same sized and identical shaped little bodies. Same white suits. Same blue skin. Same voices. It was… eerie. It was like someone went clone-crazy.

The leader whistled, alerting a few of his men over. "Secure the beast until I devise a punishment for his escape."

The men began to jab at the captured woolie mercilessly with their harpoons. "Ya! Ya! Move it! Let's go! Go on, fatty!"

Evie watched as the woolie was led away, all the while being poked and zapped. She frowned. Did they really have to go that far? They forced the woolie into a stable… which looked more like a jail cell, and slammed the door on him. The woolie looked out the small barred window, meeting Evie's eyes. Feeling horrible for the poor creature but unable to do anything about it, Evie looked away and down at her hands.

"Let's eat!" the leader turned to them with a grin, completely unaffected by the woolie's treatment. Hearing the mention of food, both Evie and Jack perked up.

Night fell and the festivities began. The little blue creatures who Evie soon learned were called Chritchellites, had set up a giant bonfire out in the open where food and drink was provided. Evie sat next to Jack as the woolies blew into giant musical horns. It was an experience unlike any that Evie had. She smiled politely when she was handed a steaming drink and she looked around. She saw two Chitchellites playing chess while another one was offering advice. Another group was discussing some… junga figurines… or jenga? Junga? Janga? Evie had no idea.

"This future is so strange," she told Jack as he graciously accepted his own hot drink. "I can't tell if it grew advanced with technology or if it reverted into primitivity."

Jack shrugged and took a long swig of his drink. His eyes widened and his cheeks bulged. The samurai barely stopped himself from spitting it back out. He forced himself to swallow and tears of revulsion leaked down his face. "Ugh!" he clutched at his throat.

Evie stared down at her own drink with horror. What the hell was this? She carefully brought it to her nose and gave a tentative sniff. She cringed back as her nose began to burn from the steam. Making sure no one else was watching, Evie quickly dumped her drink into a nearby bush and set down her cup far away as possible. To her surprise, the bush began to cough and choke before it plucked out its roots from the earth, lifted its leaves like a skirt and lumbered away while saying in a miffed manly voice, "Shrub don't need this kind of abuse. Shrub out."

…

"Did you see that?!" Evie pulled on Jack's sleeve, completely freaked out- but he was too busy trying not to die from the drink. Evie patted him on the back, hoping that it would help.

The horns sounded and the lead Chritchellite stood up onto his throne. "Bring on the entertainment!"

The little blue men cheered as two woolies dressed up in Arabian attire were forced into the circle. Evie winced each time they were zapped with a trident.

 _ZAP!_

A woolie lifted a leg.

 _ZAP! ZAP! ZAP!_

The woolie stood up straight on its hindlegs. The other woolie walked on its forelegs while balancing a giant red ball on top of its back legs. The Chritchellites cheered.

Recovered from the horrific drink, Jack thoughtlessly brought a green apple towards his mouth as he watched the show. He stopped himself. Jack eyed the fruit suspiciously and sniffed it. Concluding that it _was_ just an apple and not some imposter, he smiled and bit into it. He pushed the tray of fruit towards Evie. "Here, try this."

"Thanks." Evie eagerly began to pluck the grapes and she hummed with joy as her mouth was filled with the sweet juice. "I never thought I'd be so happy to eat grapes again." It wasn't meat, but she wasn't about to look a gift horse in the mouth. She tried not to focus on the circus that was in front of her. The poor beasts looked downright miserable. But then it all went wrong. One woolie shakily tossed the ball a little too high and the other tried to catch it, only to topple over and crush his rider into a bunch of wooden barrels.

Evie gasped, a grape falling from her fingers. That looked painful for both parties!

Pissed off, one of the blue men ran up to the woolie and stabbed it hard with his trident, shocking it. "Up you worthless beast!" he yelled. Several more ran in to join him with the zapping. The woolie trembled from the pain.

Jack clapped slowly as he looked around with uncertainty at the cheering Chritchellites. This wasn't the type of entertainment he was hoping for… but he was too polite to try and offend their hosts.

Evie wasn't above it though. Instead she jumped to her feet and shouted, "Stop! What are you doing?!"

Her outburst made the Chritchellites stop and they all turned to stare at her in silence.

"Must you torment the woolie so? It was an accident!"

The Chritchelites blinked. One of them snorted, "Oh great. We've got a woolie activist over here." The others muttered to themselves. They were not pleased by Evie's outburst.

"Yeah, and what if I am?" is what Evie _wanted_ to say. But she didn't want to antagonize her hosts so she just merely frowned and crossed her arms.

"We mean no disrespect," Jack interjected before things could go downhill, "but your treatment of the woolies does seem a bit harsh."

The Chritchelite who was sitting next to Jack said, "Not really. How we handle the woolies is no different than how you humans treat… What do you call them? Horses?"

"We don't stab or electrocute our horses," Evie argued. "We treat them with love and respect. In return they listen to and aid us."

"Hmph," the Chitrchelite next to Jack sniffed and looked at Jack. "There's no pleasing your mother, is there? It's no wonder you humans are facing extinction."

Evie gaped at him. "I am _not_ his mother!" They didn't even look alike!

"Tomato, tomato…" The blue man rolled his eyes.

The leader shrugged his shoulders, "In any case, I can see that our entertainment offends you." He yelled to his servants, "Take the woolies away! We shall entertain _ourselves_ for the night."

The Chritchelites groaned and yelled protests but did as they were told. The woolies were taken away and the banquet continued without further torture. Yet, there was only so much of the party that Evie could take, especially with all the stink eyes that she received. She excused herself from the party while Jack stayed to finish his meal. Evie kicked at a small stone in frustration and watched it bounce off a wall. She didn't like the Chritchelites. Something about them rubbed her the wrong way.

Evie tossed her apple up into the air and caught it. Toss and catch. Toss and catch.

They were rude, dismissive and had no sympathy towards the woolies. Even if the woolies were violent animals they were still _animals_. They deserved some sort of respect.

Toss and catch. Toss and catch.

Evie came to a stop in front of a prison cell. This was where the runaway woolie was held. Her eyes softened in pity as it stared at her through the bars with large sad eyes. Evie approached the door and grabbed at the bars. The woolie backed away from her, shaking. "No, no… it's okay," Evie cooed gently. "I'm not going to hurt you."

The woolie gradually stopped shaking but did not approach.

Evie glanced down at the apple in her hands in thought. Figuring that she no longer had an appetite, Evie held it out for the woolie. She remembered how Jack taught her to feed a horsefly, perhaps this will be no different.

It looked at the apple in her hand and then back at her with uncertainty.

"Here, take it," Evie coaxed. "You must be hungry. Have they been feeding you?"

The woolie hesitated and sniffed at the apple. For a split second, Evie wondered if maybe the woolie was a carnivore. In that case, sticking her hand through the bars wasn't exactly a smart move. Just as she considered pulling back, the woolie chomped down at the apple, her hand and all.

Evie yelped and pulled her hand out of the woolie's mouth. It was covered with saliva yet unharmed. She let out a breath of relief. Evie smiled at the beast and pat/wiped her hand off on the woolie. "There, that's better isn't it?"

The woolie seemed to smile and lean into her touch.

Evie's eyes grew soft, "Look at you. You're not monstrous at all. You're a gentle giant, aren't you? Had you wanted to bite my hand off, you would have done so already." She leaned her head against the bars as she continued to pet the woolie. "I don't know about you, but those little blue creatures seem to be more vicious than a woolie. Honestly, I wish there was something that I could do but I doubt that there's a humane society here. Besides…" Evie pulled away, earning a sad moan from the creature. "This is hardly any of my business. I wish you the best of luck, buddy. Perhaps try not to escape next time?" Evie gave him a small wave and began to walk away when…

"Wait- please, don't go!"

Evie stopped in her tracks and she gave a loud gasp. She turned back around and instantly grabbed the bars, pressing herself tightly to the door. Her eyes were wide in horror. "You can _talk_?!"

"Hey you get away from there!"

Evie yelped when a couple of Chritchelites ran at her. She was shoved to the size and the little blue men charged into the prison cell and began to taser the woolie. Evie made a move forward but was blocked by the leader.

"What do you think you're doing?!" The leader snapped, pointing an accusing finger at Evie.

"I was only… I thought-" Evie stammered. She was so shocked that words escaped her. She winced as the sparks flew out of the window and she could hear the woolie bellow with pain.

"You should be careful! The beasts are tricky! Their mind control will fry your brain!"

At this point, all Evie heard was lies. Mind control? Really? But even so, there was nothing that she could do right at this moment. Evie frowned angrily but stepped back away from the door.

The leader grabbed her arm and dragged her off, "You females are more trouble than you're worth. Always snooping around and getting yourself into trouble. Come, I'll take you back to your master. Dessert is being served and I don't want to miss it."

Evie didn't even process the insult and allowed herself to be taken away. Instead all she could think was this: The woolies were sentient. They weren't animals, they were _people_. This whole situation transformed from animal abuse into outright slavery! She had to tell Jack. He had to know about this!

They soon arrived back at the party and the leader dragged her over to Jack. The samurai raised his head in surprise to see Evie being pulled along like a punished child with the leader looking irritated and Evie looking… furious.

"You should keep a better eye on your woman!" The leader scolded as he released Evie's arm. "She almost got us all killed!" He stomped away to his throne as the dessert was being brought out.

Jack turned his attention to Evie who sat down next to him with a huff. She crossed her arms and glared heatedly at the ground. "What happened?"

"I'll tell you later," Evie grumbled angrily and ignored the rest of the festivities. She could tell that Jack was concerned because he kept sending her inquisitive looks. To her relief, he did not press the subject. She wanted to wait until she was certain that they could talk in private.

The party eventually ended and it was time to turn in for the night. Jack had looked expectantly at Evie, hoping that she would talk to him but the young woman simply laid down on the hard stone floor with her back facing Jack. Evie heard Jack sigh deeply out of his nose and heard him lay down too.

Evie did not sleep. She kept her eyes open and stayed still until she was certain that each and every last Chritchelite was sleeping soundly. She wasn't sure how long she lay there awake, but it felt like hours. Slowly she sat up, glancing around. The coast was clear. She looked down at Jack who was fast asleep with his back turned to her. Jack's face was scrunched up and sweat was trickling down his temple. He was having a nightmare.

The blonde grabbed his shoulder and shook him. "Jack," she whispered. "Jack, wake up."

The samurai's eyes burst open and he sat up with a sharp gasp. Evie flinched away as his hand gripped his sword. He breathed heavily and looked around wildly as if trying to find the enemy but then his eyes landed on Evie. Realizing that he was only dreaming, Jack let out a sigh and wiped his face with his hand.

"Jack, are you okay?" Evie whispered worriedly.

"Yes, it was just a bad dream," He muttered. "Did I wake you?"

"No," Evie shook her head and once again looked around to check to see if everyone was still asleep. "I couldn't sleep."

Jack looked at Evie worriedly. She was acting very agitated since she was brought back by the Chritchelite leader. "Evie, if something is wrong-"

"Something _is_ wrong, Jack," Evie grabbed his wrist, squeezing it tightly. "I had to wait until everyone was asleep. Jack, the woolies aren't animals. They are people!"

"What?" Jack was taken aback.

"The one that was imprisoned, he spoke to me. The woolies are an enslaved race! You've noticed how this place doesn't seem to add up, right? All these large and grand buildings, they don't belong to the tiny Chritchelites. I bet this land belongs to the woolies!"

The expression on Jack's face became really serious as he listened to Evie. Enslavement? If this was true, then this changed things. "Are you sure?" He asked, grabbing her shoulder firmly.

"Yes," Evie nodded, desperation written all over her face. "Jack, we need to do something. This… this is all wrong!"

Jack was silent for a moment before standing up and reaching out a hand to help Evie. She took it and he pulled her up. "Then let's pay a visit to the woolie. You're right. Something about this place doesn't add up."

A relieved smile lifted Evie's face. He believed her!

Jack peered over the side of the building, checking to see that the coast was clear. He then motioned Evie to follow him. They quickly scaled down the large and very steep steps- well… _Jack_ quickly jumped down from step to step, avoiding the sleeping blue men. Evie slowly crawled down backwards like the uncoordinated human that she was. Once they were in the clear, they both ran towards the prison cell that held the woolie.

"Hey," Evie called out softly, grabbing the bars. "Psst, hey!"

The woolie blinked his large sleepy eyes open, but then they widened with excitement at the sight of Evie. He smiled and quickly walked over to her. "You came back!" The woolie noticed Jack standing behind her and he suddenly flinched back. He remembered how Jack had captured him.

"It's okay," Evie told the woolie. "Jack's my friend. He can help."

"Really?" The woolie hopefully looked at Jack. "You will free me?"

Jack nodded, looking astonished that the woolie was talking. Evie had been telling the truth. He opened the door, letting the woolie out.

"Follow me," The woolie said quietly. "Everything will be explained to you both."

* * *

 **A/N:** _Sorry for the wait, guys! I hope you didn't wait too long for this chapter. My favorite part was with the shrub. xD I was giggling the entire time I wrote that random little scene. I'll see you again in the next chapter._


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